A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu has faulted Atiku Abubakar on his volte face promise to reintroduce fuel subsidy if he wins the 2027 presidential election.
In a statement he issued in Enugu mase available to the media Sunday, Okechukwu told Atiku that promising “to retain fuel subsidy is medicine after death”, noting that “the new promise was borne out of desperation to win the 2027 presidential election”.
Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress(ADC) had in a recent statement promised Nigerians that the era of petroleum subsidy would return should he become the next president.
But Okechukwu, who is a foundation member of APC, picked holes in Atiku’s position, saying that he should perish the thought as Nigeria has moved on from the discredited era of fuel subsidy and its attendant corrupt practices.
“One is at a loss how His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, who was not only on the same page with President Tinubu in 2022 that fuel subsidy was inevitable, but was also a kingpin in the first phase implementation of the Fourth Republic’s neoliberal economic policies, can now present himself as the champion of fuel subsidy retention?”
“Among those policies which he superintended were fuel subsidy removal and the privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), some of which have produced outcomes that impacted adversely on Nigerians and had retarded our economic growth,” Okechukwu stated.
The APC chieftain insisted that “no patriot would doubt that bad economic policies harm liberal democracy” hence Atiku should be mindful of the kind of economic policies he is proposing.
He noted that the removal of fuel subsidy, like virtually every other component of Nigeria’s four-decade-old neoliberal economic experiment, had unintended and painful consequences for our dear citizenry.
According to him, among the consequences are the erosion of living standards, severe pressure on small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), rising unemployment, the slide of more than 100 million Nigerians into multidimensional poverty, and the worsening insecurity crisis, especially kidnapping.
Okechukwu challenged the ADC presidential flag bearer to tell Nigerians what has now changed as the 2027 presidential poll draws near to warrant shifting his position on subsidy removal.
“Is this not sheer opportunism and simply an electoral promise designed to exploit the hardship Nigerians are experiencing today?”
Referencing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s description of Atiku’s latest position as stemming from ignorance, Okechukwu said he would rather describe it as “the height of political desperation and inconsistency.”
He stated that Atiku’s decision to deliver his message of fuel subsidy return via Hausa Service channel was more or less a smart ploy he assumed will resonate with voters in Northern Nigeria.
“Perhaps Atiku assumes that the Northern electorate will readily buy-in the kite he is flying. Permit me to remind him that Northern electorate are one of the most politically sophisticated electorates in our dear country,” Okechukwusaid.
He argued that “Atiku is neither Buhari in the minds of Northern electorates, nor Mai Gasikiya.
“It is with nostalgia that one paraphrased the words on marble of 2nd Republic president, His Excellency Shehu Shagari that, ‘only Malam Aminu Kano and President Buhari had political cult followership in Northern Nigeria’.
According to him, instead of making statements that pander to sentiments, presidential candidates should come up with realistic solutions to the myriads of problems facing the country.
“Nigerians are anxiously waiting for well digested and articulated line by line solutions on how best to lift millions out of poverty; how best to curb corruption that seems to be growing wings, and contain palpable insecurity, not copy paste last-minute populist manifesto designed principally to win votes,” he said.
Okechukwu, who is a former Director General, Voice of Nigeria(VON), noted that “the real demand of most Nigerians is no longer political campaign motivated by fuel subsidy removal but strict observance of Petroleum Industry Act (PIA)”.
He said that PIA has established the Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligation (DCSO); the embedded and pragmatic market forces enabler designed to reduce fuel pump price.
The party chieftain stated that “the legitimate solution to reduction of fuel pump price is constant supply of crude oil to Dangote and other local refineries in Naira, in line with the PIA”, thereby enabling the companies to compete unhindered.
