Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, clarified on Friday that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is not reinstating the petroleum subsidy.
The clarification follows the government’s announcement on Thursday of a 30-day petrol discount across all Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) retail stations.
The elimination of fuel subventions, originally declared by President Tinubu during his inauguration in Abuja in May 2023, led to sharp increases in retail pump prices nationwide.
Responding to the 30-day discount initiative, African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar accused the president of appropriating his policy proposal for managing fuel subsidy removal.
Reacting, Atiku characterized President Tinubu’s 30-day fuel discount as a last-ditch effort, arguing that the temporary measure is incapable of reversing the economic damage caused by the steep rise in petrol prices.
However, in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Oyedele said, “This government is not bringing back the subsidy of fuel products, we need to be clear.”
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Meanwhile, Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has described President Bola Tinubu as a dull student copying his peers’ answers in an examination.
The former vice president made the remark in reaction to the Federal Government’s announcement of a temporary 30-day fuel price reduction.
The statement followed an earlier declaration by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, announcing a 30-day discount on fuel prices across all filling stations operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Atiku maintained that the administration had merely copied his earlier policy recommendations on managing the transition away from fuel subsidies.
Addressing journalists in a video, Atiku said: “Wait a minute Bola, you have borrowed the idea but missed the lesson and Amaechi tried to define the lesson while speaking.
“Bola, you are like a dull student who copied his classmate’s answer, you have done it so blindly that the classmate’s name at the top of his exam paper and then demanded marks for original thinking.
“You copied my production subsidy proposal, nothing wrong about that, you stripped away the part that makes it work and handed Nigerians a 30-day discount.
“Where is the rest of the answer Bola? You see why it is good to go to school.”
