Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has backed the removal of petrol subsidy but criticised the Federal Government’s handling of the savings generated from the policy.
Obi said subsidy removal was necessary but argued that government should have introduced measures to cushion its impact on Nigerians.
“I subscribe and I maintain that we need to remove subsidy. Mismanagement of the proceeds should not be the reason for not removing it,” Obi said.
The former Anambra State governor spoke during the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Port Harcourt.
He argued that the government should have provided alternatives for citizens while investing savings from subsidy removal in productive sectors.
“What we should have done is that when we removed it, we should have given the people alternative usage for the subsidy,” he said.
Obi also alleged that resources saved from the policy had been mismanaged and diverted.
He maintained that he had advocated an organised approach to subsidy removal before the 2023 presidential election.
“Go to my manifesto, I said it before, I said I will do it in an organised manner and whatever we recover would be invested appropriately,” he said.
His position differs from that of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, who has indicated that he would restore fuel subsidy if elected in 2027.
President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy shortly after assuming office in May 2023.
The decision resulted in a sharp increase in petrol prices and intensified the cost-of-living crisis.
While the Federal Government has continued to defend the policy as necessary for fiscal sustainability, critics have questioned the management of the resulting savings.
Obi’s latest position places him in favour of retaining subsidy removal while strongly criticising its implementation.
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