Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Tinubu to explain how the funds saved from the removal of fuel subsidy have been spent, following the renewed threat of a nationwide university lecturers’ strike.
Atiku said the warning by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) exposed the failure of the Federal Government to fulfil its promise to channel subsidy savings into education and other critical sectors.
In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president asked the government to account for the money Nigerians were told would be freed after subsidy removal.
“If the subsidy is gone and Nigerians have paid for that decision through unprecedented hardship, then President Tinubu owes the country a simple answer: where is the money?” Atiku asked.
ASUU on Friday threatened to begin a nationwide strike “within the shortest time possible” unless the government addressed issues affecting university lecturers.
The union’s President, Chris Piwuna, said the decision followed an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council at the University of Abuja.
Piwuna accused the Federal Government and state governments of failing to fully implement the agreement reached with the union in December 2025.
The union also alleged that deductions for pension contributions, cooperative societies and check-off dues had not been remitted for several months.
‘House of cards is collapsing’
Reacting to the development, Atiku said the threat of another strike contradicted the government’s justification for removing the subsidy.
He said Nigerians had endured higher petrol prices, transport fares, food costs, energy bills and school fees based on assurances that the savings would be invested in education, healthcare, infrastructure and other essential services.
“The house of cards of falsehoods erected by the Tinubu administration to justify the suffering of Nigerians is collapsing before our eyes,” he said.
Atiku also questioned the claim that subsidy savings had resulted in increased allocations to state governments.
“Government officials repeatedly tell Nigerians that subsidy savings have translated into larger allocations to states. But if substantially more money is supposedly flowing to the states, why has the condition of public education not improved accordingly?” he asked.
“You cannot boast about record allocations while students sit at home because lecturers are on strike.
“You cannot celebrate higher revenues when classrooms, laboratories, hostels and teaching facilities remain inadequate.”
The former vice-president further criticised the student loan scheme administered by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, saying the government had worsened the cost of living and education before offering loans to students.
“This government removed subsidy, increased the cost of transportation, food and virtually every other necessity, and watched the cost of university education rise beyond the reach of many families,” he said.
“After helping to make education more expensive, the same government created NELFUND and now celebrates giving young Nigerians loans to pay fees that many of their parents can no longer comfortably afford.”
Atiku described the situation as “government-manufactured poverty” and accused the administration of prioritising concessions and privileges for powerful interests over relief for ordinary Nigerians.
He said the latest ASUU crisis showed that subsidy removal had neither ended strikes in the university system nor delivered the improvements promised by the government.
“Tinubu removed subsidy from the people, but he has not removed the threat of ASUU strikes,” Atiku said.
“He has not resolved the crisis of unpaid obligations. He has not sufficiently expanded our universities. He has not made education more affordable. And he certainly has not removed the hardship confronting Nigerian families.”
