The 2027 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of mistaking Nigerians’ ability to endure economic hardship for evidence that his fuel subsidy removal policy is succeeding.

Atiku made the criticism in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, while responding to Tinubu’s criticism of his proposal to reintroduce fuel subsidy under a new model if elected president.

Tinubu, upon assuming office on May 29, 2023, announced the end of the petrol subsidy regime, a decision that was followed by a sharp increase in fuel prices and rising transportation, food and production costs.

Atiku, who has faulted the manner in which the policy was implemented, said he would introduce a different subsidy framework if elected in 2027.

Reacting to the President’s criticism, Atiku described it as “the insolent sermon of a failed economic experimenter who mistakes Nigerians’ capacity to endure suffering for evidence that his policies are working.”

He accused the Tinubu administration of imposing simultaneous fuel-price, foreign-exchange and cost-of-living shocks on an already fragile economy.

“That is not reform. It is economic arson followed by propaganda about the ashes,” Atiku said.

He argued that increased government revenue and higher allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) should not be presented as evidence of economic success if ordinary Nigerians are struggling to afford food, transportation, education and other basic necessities.

“Tinubu’s courtiers may clap because FAAC allocations have increased, but hungry Nigerians cannot boil FAAC figures for dinner,” he said.

According to the former vice president, businesses cannot sustain production with government pronouncements while workers and households continue to grapple with rising transportation and living costs.

“A government that grows richer while its citizens grow poorer is not reforming an economy. It is extracting from its people,” he said.

Atiku also criticised the manner in which the subsidy removal was announced, arguing that the government failed to provide an adequate transition plan or sufficient measures to cushion the impact of the policy.

He said the declaration that “subsidy is gone” amounted to economic disruption because petrol prices subsequently rose, transportation and production costs increased, the naira depreciated and food prices surged.

“Those three words were not economic policy. They were economic vandalism by presidential fiat,” Atiku said.

He further rejected suggestions that his proposal amounted to a return to the previous subsidy regime, which had been criticised over allegations of corruption, inefficiency and poor oversight.

According to Atiku, his proposed model would be “targeted, capped, budgeted, time-bound and independently audited”, while being tied to domestic production and protected against arbitrage.

He argued that economic policies must be adjusted when circumstances change, insisting that the economic environment created by the Tinubu administration was significantly different from the one that existed before the subsidy removal.

“Tinubu pronounced first and searched for a plan afterwards. Atiku studied the consequences and produced a solution,” he said.

The ADC candidate also questioned the government’s handling of what he described as energy-security costs and petroleum under-recoveries contained in the audited accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

Atiku claimed that NNPCL’s accounts contained approximately ₦17.5 trillion in energy-security costs and petroleum under-recoveries, including about ₦7.13 trillion classified as Energy Security and ₦8.67 trillion in under-recoveries.

He argued that the figures raised questions about the government’s claim that fuel subsidy had been completely eliminated.

The former vice president maintained that the success of economic reform should ultimately be measured by improvements in citizens’ living standards, purchasing power, employment and business activity rather than government revenue alone.

The dispute over fuel subsidy is expected to remain a major issue ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with Atiku positioning his proposed intervention as an alternative to the Tinubu administration’s approach to petroleum pricing and economic reform.