Atiku condemns FG’s 30-day fuel discount, as political publicity stunt

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the Federal Government’s newly proposed 30-day fuel discount. He dismissed the intervention as a desperate political stunt engineered to offer temporary relief ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The backlash condemns Thursday’s announcement by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, that the government will implement a one-month discount on petrol dispensed exclusively across Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) retail outlets. The minister explained that the arrangement is designed to sell petrol at cost to stabilise pump prices rather than a return to the fuel subsidy regime.

However, Atiku faulted the scope and timing of the intervention, describing it as a political bandage on a severe wound created by the current administration in a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu.

“Atiku totally rejects this calendar-scheduled, election-laced subsidy package. Nigerians are not fools to be offered a month of discounted fuel after years of punishing prices and then expected to forget the hardship when the discount expires. This is shameless and heartless”- Shaibu.

Atiku also raised concerns over what awaits citizens on the 31st day once the discount window closes. He stated that the government has failed to state the exact savings per litre or guarantee a corresponding reduction in public transportation fares for commuters.

“What happens on Day 31? Nigerians wake up to the same brutal prices, the same punishing transport fares and the same rising cost of food. The government cannot manufacture relief for one month and expect Nigerians to applaud while the hardship remains.”

He promised to implement a capped and budgeted production-support policies tied to locally refined fuel if elected president, stressing that such structured economic interventions would deliver lasting relief to Nigerians instead of short-lived promises.