Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has proposed a new petroleum subsidy model that would shift government intervention from fuel imports to domestic refining.
Key Highlights:
- Atiku proposed subsidising domestic refineries, not fuel imports.
- Qualifying refineries would get crude at preferential prices under strict rules.
- He promised transparency, audits and penalties for abuse of the scheme.
- He said the plan would help reduce fuel, transport and food costs.
- Atiku also called for a public reconciliation of about N30 trillion in government funds.
Under the proposed Atiku Economic Recovery Plan 2027, qualifying public and private refineries would have access to Nigerian crude at preferential prices, subject to production, efficiency and domestic supply requirements.
Atiku’s proposal was contained in a statement issued on Thursday, by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
The former vice president said the proposal is not a return to the controversial subsidy regime, but a targeted intervention aimed at reducing energy costs, strengthening local refining capacity and ensuring that government support directly benefits Nigerians.
“My proposal is not to resurrect the old subsidy regime. We will move subsidy from importation to production, from middlemen to Nigerian refineries, and from unverifiable claims to verifiable barrels,” Atiku said.
“The principle is simple: the subsidy will follow the barrel.”
He said the cost of subsidised crude would be transparently accounted for, while annual spending would be capped through the federal budget.
“The cost will be known. The ceiling will be known. The beneficiaries will be known. And, most importantly, the benefits delivered to Nigerians will be measurable,” he said.
Atiku proposed that no refinery should receive subsidised crude unless it can demonstrate, through independent verification, that the corresponding petroleum products were produced and supplied to the Nigerian market.
“No phantom cargoes. No fictitious imports. No unverifiable under-recoveries. No retrospective claims,” he said.
“If you receive subsidised Nigerian crude, you must refine it in Nigeria, supply the agreed products to Nigerians and pass the benefit to Nigerians. Otherwise, you do not qualify.”
According to him, participation in the scheme would be rules-based and open to all qualifying refineries.
He said operators that divert subsidised crude or refined products, manipulate records or fail to meet domestic supply obligations would lose eligibility, refund the subsidy and face sanctions.
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“Nigeria will not subsidise anybody’s private profit. Public support must produce a measurable public benefit,” Atiku said.
He further proposed a statutory sunset clause for the intervention, with government support progressively reduced as domestic refining capacity, efficiency and competition improve.
“Our objective is not a permanent subsidy. It is to use temporary and disciplined support to build a refining industry strong enough eventually not to need subsidy,” he said.
Atiku said reducing energy and transportation costs would have wider economic benefits by lowering the cost of food production, manufacturing and trade while improving consumers’ purchasing power.
“The ultimate objective is not merely cheaper petrol. It is cheaper transportation, cheaper food, stronger businesses, more Nigerian jobs and greater purchasing power,” he said.
The ADC candidate also attacked President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the removal of petrol subsidy, arguing that Nigerians were made to bear the immediate burden of higher fuel prices without adequate explanation of subsequent petroleum-related expenditures.
“President Tinubu stood at Eagle Square on May 29, 2023 and declared that ‘subsidy is gone.’ Nigerians were immediately handed the bill,” Atiku said.
He cited audited financial statements of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which he said recorded about N4.84 trillion in Energy Security Expenses in 2023 and N7.13 trillion in 2024.
Atiku demanded clarification on the economic substance and beneficiaries of the expenditures.
“You cannot abolish subsidies at Eagle Square and allow subsidy-like costs to resurface in government accounts without explaining the contradiction,” he said.
He also demanded a full reconciliation of what he described as approximately N30 trillion in Federation revenues, deductions, savings, transfers and related funds.
“Let nobody misrepresent the argument. We are not saying N30 trillion is fuel subsidy or that N30 trillion has been proven stolen,” Atiku said.
“We are saying that approximately N30 trillion reflected across Federation revenues, deductions, savings, transfers and related classifications requires a complete, month-by-month public reconciliation.”
He called on the government to publish details of the deductions, beneficiaries, transfers, balances and the legal authority backing them.
“These are government figures. The accounts are in government custody. The burden cannot be transferred to Nigerians or the opposition,” he said.
Atiku also promised to investigate previous subsidy transactions if elected, saying anyone found to have fraudulently obtained or diverted public funds would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
“Anyone who stole subsidy money should prepare to return it. But we will not replace one opaque system with another,” he said.
Summing up his proposed model, Atiku said the intervention would be defined by clear rules, spending limits, budgetary appropriation, crude tracking, production verification, consumer protection and public disclosure.
“Ours will be: define the intervention, establish the ceiling, appropriate the money, track the crude, verify the production, guarantee the consumer benefit, publish the accounts and progressively reduce the subsidy,” he said.
“Target it. Cap it. Budget it. Track it. Audit it. Make Nigerians feel the benefit. Reduce it as domestic production grows. And ultimately, end the need for it altogether.”
