Sowore pledges to restore petrol subsidy if elected in 2027

Abdullateef Fowewe

Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has promised to reinstate Nigeria’s petrol subsidy if he wins the 2027 election, arguing that the current administration has merely “changed the name” of the subsidy rather than removing it.

Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Tuesday, Sowore was asked directly whether he would restore the subsidy.

His reply was unequivocal.

“Asked whether he would bring back petrol subsidy, Sowore said, ‘absolutely’.”

He contended that, despite official claims, the federal government continues to subsidise both petrol and the naira.

“In the first place, they’re still paying subsidies. They’re just changing the name of what they call it.

“They’re subsidising not only petrol because they don’t have enough and they can’t produce locally. They’re also subsidising the naira. That’s one thing they will never tell you,” he said.

Sowore defended the concept of subsidies as a tool for protecting vulnerable citizens, but criticised how Nigeria’s system has operated in practice.

“You see what everybody has agreed happened to subsidy — it’s not that subsidy is bad because there’s no country that doesn’t subsidise the poor,” he said.

He argued that the biggest beneficiaries have been wealthy importers and businesses, not ordinary Nigerians.

“In fact, the people that get the most subsidy in Nigeria are not the poor; it’s the rich.

“All the people who bring in foreign goods and services, go and look at their waivers at customs, you will know who’s getting real subsidy compared to the people who are getting N10 from each gallon of petrol that was taken away from them,” he said.

Sowore linked the removal of the petrol subsidy to Nigeria’s sharp economic deterioration since 2023, when President Bola Tinubu ended the long-standing regime on his first day in office.

“And you saw what happened immediately you remove subsidy. Your economy tanked, your naira also went down the toilet,” he said.

He called for a shift away from what he described as an outdated economic mindset that has normalised poverty.

“What we have to do differently, first and foremost, is to get rid of this old mentality and the ideas that brought poverty to become a standard and household name in Nigeria,” he said.

The AAC candidate also dismissed the government’s focus on improved macroeconomic indicators while living standards remain dire for many Nigerians.

“It’s all about the optics. But optics don’t feed people,” he said.

Sowore’s position sets up a clear policy contrast with the Tinubu administration, which has defended subsidy removal as necessary to free up fiscal space and attract investment, even as inflation and the cost of living have surged.