Eniola Yekini
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of poorly copying his production subsidy proposal and reducing it to a temporary petrol discount.
Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, spoke during the inauguration of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.
The Federal Government had announced a 30-day discount on petrol sold at NNPC Retail outlets, which the Presidency insists is not a return to subsidy but a reduction in retail margin.
Reacting, Atiku mocked the initiative, describing Tinubu as a dull student who copied without understanding.
“Wait a minute, Bola. You have borrowed the idea but missed the lesson. You had a production subsidy and reduced it to a 30-day gesture,” Atiku said.
“Bola, you are like a dull student who copied his classmate’s answer. You have done it so blindly that you copied the classmate’s name at the top of his examination paper and then demanded marks for original thinking,” he said.
“You copied my production subsidy proposal. There is nothing wrong with 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, please, you see why it is good to go to school?” he added.
Atiku had earlier described the discount as a “panic-driven publicity stunt,” arguing that it would not address the hardship caused by subsidy removal.
The Presidency has dismissed claims that the discount amounts to subsidy return.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the initiative is a margin cut by the retailer, not government-funded subsidy.
“Every marketer adds a margin to the price it pays for the fuel it sells. A margin discount means the retailer chooses to take a smaller margin, or no margin at all for a period, and passes the saving to the customer. The cost of the discount is borne by the retailer alone,” Onanuga said.
“A subsidy is different. It is when government pays part of the price the consumer would otherwise pay. That money comes from public revenue. That is the regime this administration ended in 2023, and it is not coming back,” he added.
Similarly, NNPC in a statement by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, said the discount introduced on October 1 as part of Independence anniversary activities and extended till October 31, was to ease pressure on consumers amid high global crude prices linked to Middle East tensions.
“This discount is a customer relief initiative and does not represent the reintroduction of petroleum subsidy,” the company said, clarifying that it does not create a uniform national pump price.