The Vice Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said an administration led by the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would reintroduce fuel subsidy, but in a different form.
Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor, stated this in an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday.
He was discussing the fuel subsidy policy of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration and the positions of presidential candidates ahead of the 2027 election.
Asked whether it would be difficult for the NDC to campaign in the North-West, where there is support for the return of subsidy, Kwankwaso said, “No, no, no, look. We are bringing subsidy in our own way.”
Asked how the party would achieve this, he said the government could invest in refineries to increase domestic production and make petrol available to Nigerians at what he described as a reasonable price.
“Of course, there are many ways. One, I can tell you: now we have a refinery built by a businessman, and I’m sure more refineries would be built.
“Now, if individuals in this country could build refineries, I see no reason why government, under certain circumstances, will not build a refinery or refineries to the extent that we achieve the minimum requirement.
“What is the minimum requirement? The minimum requirement is for the people across the country to go to the filling stations and buy fuel at a reasonable price.
“We, in the NDC, will do whatever it takes, really, to put the price of oil down,” he said.
Kwankwaso said the three major presidential candidates in the 2023 election, including vice president Atiku Abubakar, had campaigned on removing fuel subsidy, but criticised Tinubu for implementing the policy immediately after taking office.
He said, “No, that’s what I know. Of course, among the three of them, Bola Tinubu decided to do so and removed the subsidy. And the consequences that we thought would happen, certainly happened.
“And not only he decided to remove the subsidy, what he did was to remove it immediately—in fact, day one—without looking at all those possible issues that were associated with that. And that’s how we find ourselves in this total mess, economically.”
Tinubu announced the end of the petrol subsidy in his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, saying, “subsidy is gone.”
Petrol prices subsequently rose from below N200 per litre to more than N500 in many parts of the country, while the increase also fed into higher transport and other costs.
In a July 2023 national broadcast, Tinubu acknowledged that the policy had increased the cost of fuel, food and other goods, while arguing that the subsidy had become financially unsustainable and that savings from its removal would be redirected to other areas.
Kwankwaso’s comments come as opposition politicians continue to advance different positions on the subsidy ahead of the 2027 general elections.
At the Nigeria Bar Association’s 66th Annual General Conference in August, presidential candidates and representatives of other parties also differed on the policy, with some advocating its return and others arguing for alternative approaches to making petrol affordable.
