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Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), says he will restore the petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027.
Speaking during an interview on Wednesday, Atiku said the government has failed to account for the funds saved from the removal of petrol subsidy.
“I did not oppose the removal of the oil subsidy, but where is the money? Where did it go? It was intended to reduce poverty and help children attend school. Where is the money now? It seems they are just stealing it,” Atiku said in Hausa.
“If elected, I will bring back the oil subsidy, and whoever stole the money must refund it.”
Atiku said the removal of the petrol subsidy could have been justified if the savings had been channelled into development projects across the country.
“The government successfully removed the subsidy, but we do not know where the money went. If they had used the money for development, to solve security problems, for education, and to create opportunities for the youth, it would be different. If elected, I can remove the subsidy and use the money to do all these properly.”
President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy in his inaugural address on May 29, 2023.
The subsidy triggered an immediate increase in the cost of living, with the prices of goods and services rising across the country.
Some state governors have acknowledged that their monthly allocations from the federation account allocation committee (FAAC) have increased significantly since the petrol subsidy was removed.
On Wednesday, Taiwo Oyedele, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, said the savings from petrol subsidy removal had generated N15.8 trillion in resources for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
The minister explained that the savings were reflected through higher revenue collections, particularly because the naira value of dollar-denominated transactions increased following the exchange-rate reform.
