Nigeria’s federal government has rejected calls by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to restore a petrol subsidy removed in 2023, warning that its reinstatement would undermine reforms in the petroleum sector.
The presidency, in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, said restoring the subsidy would create legal and fiscal complications and could discourage investment in domestic refining, including the Dangote Refinery and other modular refineries.
Atiku, who is seeking to become president in Nigeria’s 2027 general election, has promised to restore the petrol subsidy if elected.
Atiku said his proposal was not a return to the opaque subsidy regime of the past, but a controlled mechanism to support Nigerian refineries while ensuring that the benefits of cheaper crude feedstock were passed on to consumers.
The presidency, however, criticised the proposal as retrogressive and fiscally unsustainable, describing it as a product of “desperation to win the presidency”.
“Nigeria’s petroleum landscape had changed fundamentally since President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy,” the statement said.
Nigeria generated 15.8 trillion naira ($10.9 billion) from the removal of the petrol subsidy between June 2023 and December 2025, according to Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Taiwo Oyedele.
Of that amount, 5.4 trillion naira accrued to the federal government, while 10.4 trillion naira was shared among state and local governments, Oyedele said.
The presidency said Atiku’s proposal demonstrated what it described as his “high level of ignorance” of governance and economics.
Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023, shortly after taking office.
The decision sent petrol prices from below 200 naira per litre to more than 1,000 naira, increasing transportation, food and other living costs.
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