APC challenges Atiku to explain legal, fiscal basis of petrol subsidy plan
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Abdullateef Fowewe
The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council has callied on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to provide detailed answers on his proposed “production subsidy” for locally refined petrol.
In the statement released on Sunday and signed by spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Alake, the APC-PCC said Atiku’s plan, reiterated at a press conference in Abuja, raises “important legal, fiscal and practical questions.”
The council pointed to Section 205(1) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, which states that “unrestricted free-market conditions shall determine wholesale and retail prices of petroleum products.”
It noted that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has confirmed no market failure has been declared that would allow price intervention.
“Atiku should therefore explain whether a refinery receiving his proposed subsidy would be required to sell petrol at a prescribed price.
“If the answer is yes, he should identify the legal framework under which the government would impose that price condition. If the answer is no, he should explain how public support to refiners would guarantee lower prices at filling stations,” the statement said.
The APC-PCC estimated the cost of the proposed subsidy could reach as high as N17 or N21 trillion annually, depending on the size of any crude discount and volumes covered.
It warned that preferential pricing of crude for domestic refineries would reduce revenue accruing to the Federation Account and potentially trigger fiscal pressures similar to those seen before 2023.
The statement also highlighted what it described as inconsistencies in Atiku’s positions, noting his earlier support for completing the removal of petrol subsidies and his role in earlier phases of deregulation under the Obasanjo administration.
In contrast, the council praised the Tinubu administration’s focus on compressed natural gas and electric mass transit, citing fare reductions of between 31 and 83 percent on routes already served by these services in several states.
“President Tinubu urges Nigerians to ignore politicians who want to drag the country back to the subsidy era.
“That road leads to mounting debt, petrol queues, payments pocketed by smugglers and cheap Nigerian fuel subsidised for the whole of West Africa,” the statement concluded.
