Former Nigerian vice-president Atiku Abubakar has renewed his pledge to restore the petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027, saying the policy would make life easier and more affordable for Nigerians, in a campaign message posted on Monday that has reignited debate over the country’s most sensitive economic reform.
“My position stands! I will restore subsidy to make life easier and more affordable for Nigerians,” Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), wrote in a post on X on Monday, accompanied by a campaign video explaining his proposed approach to petrol subsidy, according to multiple Nigerian outlets.
In the video, a female narrator said petrol was selling for more than 1,300 naira per litre in Nigeria and argued that citizens of other crude oil-producing countries, including Libya, Iran, Venezuela, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, enjoyed cheaper fuel. “My position has not changed and will not change. I will restore it,” Atiku said in the video, according to reports.
Support for local refineries only
The proposed intervention would be limited to supporting petrol produced by local refineries rather than imported products, according to the campaign message. Government support would apply to locally refined petrol until the domestic refining industry could operate without assistance, with the aim of reducing production costs and making fuel more affordable for consumers.
Atiku has argued that supporting domestic refining would also help reduce transportation costs and the prices of goods and services. Details of the proposed funding arrangement, eligibility requirements and mechanisms for preventing financial leakages have not been fully outlined in his latest statement, according to reports.
The pledge places subsidy restoration among the ADC candidate’s central economic promises ahead of the 2027 presidential election, which the Independent National Electoral Commission has scheduled for January 16, with governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections fixed for February 6.
A row over the savings from removal
Atiku’s renewed pledge comes amid continuing debate over President Bola Tinubu’s removal of the petrol subsidy in May 2023. Tinubu announced the policy during his inauguration, saying the government could no longer sustain the rising cost of subsidy and would redirect the savings to infrastructure, education, healthcare and job creation.
Atiku has repeatedly criticised the impact of the removal and questioned how the savings have been used. In an interview in August 2026, he argued the removal could have delivered better results if the resources had been directed towards improving public services, strengthening security, supporting education and reducing poverty, according to reports by Premium Times and TheCable cited in the coverage.
At the ADC presidential campaign flag-off in Sokoto on November 4, Atiku also pledged to reopen the country’s land borders for legitimate trade and tackle insecurity if elected. The subsidy question is likely to remain one of the defining economic arguments of the 2027 campaign, with Tinubu’s government defending removal as unavoidable and Atiku presenting restoration — tied to local refining — as relief for households still grappling with the cost of living.
Sources: The Sun Nigeria, TheNigerian, Abuja Politico, Africa News Broadcast, OgeJournal
