Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, has dismissed Atiku Abubakar’s plan to restore subsidy as a temporary fix that could worsen Nigeria’s fiscal and market problems.
Dare was reacting to Atiku’s insistence that he would bring back subsidy if elected president in 2027, including a proposal to supply crude oil to local refiners at preferential prices.
According to the presidential aide, the arrangement may sound attractive politically but would create an immediate revenue shortfall for the Federation Account.
“Who pays the bill? Selling federation crude below market price creates an immediate fiscal hole in the Federation Account, directly slashing allocations to federal, state, and local governments for schools, hospitals, and security,” Dare said.
He also warned that giving crude to selected refiners at discounted rates could distort the domestic market and create an uneven playing field for smaller operators.
“Preferential crude allocations risk creating artificial monopolies, destabilising smaller indigenous modular refiners, and violating the clear deregulatory provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act,” he said.
Dare further argued that any policy that significantly widens the gap between fuel prices in Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries could revive cross-border smuggling.
“The return of smuggling: Any regime that creates a wide gap between Nigerian pump prices and neighbouring West African markets guarantees a return of cross-border fuel arbitrage, no matter how many ‘auditors’ are promised,” he said.
He concluded: “This idea is an economic safari. Applying painkillers to a festering wound.”
Atiku had earlier restated his intention to restore fuel subsidy if elected president in 2027, disowning comments by one of his aides, Paul Ibe, who had suggested that such support would be temporary and gradually phased out.
“I want to repeat categorically that when I said I would return to subsidy, I will! Nigeria is rich enough to look after the welfare of its citizens,” Atiku said.
Ibe had explained that the proposal would involve selling crude to domestic refiners at discounted prices, allowing them to produce petrol and diesel at lower cost.
Dare, however, maintained that the plan would ultimately shift the financial burden back to government, reduce public revenue and risk recreating some of the distortions associated with the old subsidy regime.
