Is Atiku Abubakar’s Promise to Restore Fuel Subsidy the Lifeline Nigerians Have Waited For? – Jude Ndukwe

By Jude C. Ndukwe

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in the 2027 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has done what the Tinubu administration refuses to do: listen to the suffering of ordinary Nigerians. Atiku’s vow to restore the fuel subsidy recklessly scrapped by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29, 2023, is the first real hope millions have seen since this government plunged the country into manufactured hardship.

Even the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria could no longer stay silent. Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, revealed that when they told Tinubu to his face that the economy was crushing the poor, the President “did not agree with us.” That dismissal sums up the Tinubu Presidency: detached, defensive, and deaf to the cries of citizens.

Atiku, unlike Tinubu, admits when policy fails the people. He once supported subsidy removal in theory. But he now states plainly what every Nigerian knows: the so-called gains have been hijacked by a privileged few while the masses pay with hunger, job losses, and despair.

The reaction to Atiku’s promise says it all. Across social media, Nigerians are counting down to May 2027, desperate for relief from Tinubu’s economic experiment. And who can blame them?

Tinubu’s socioeconomic record so far is that of closed factories, buried businesses, and broken lives. Under him, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria reports that 767 manufacturing companies shut down in 2023 alone, with 335 others becoming distressed. Capacity utilization crashed to 56%. Interest rates are above 30%. Unsold goods pile up at N350bn.

This is not abstract data. It is GlaxoSmithKline packing up after 51 years. It is Procter & Gamble and Unilever scaling down or exiting in 2023. It is thousands of Nigerians dumped into a labour market that Tinubu’s policies destroyed.

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group puts it even more starkly: about 30% of Nigeria’s 24 million MSMEs, that is 7.2 million businesses, collapsed between 2023 and 2024. NESG calculates N94 trillion lost to divestments and closures in that window. That is the true legacy of Tinubu’s “bold reform.”

And then, a government for the 1%:

The Tinubu administration brags about FAAC allocations and claims 27 states can now pay salaries. But civil servants are less than 1% of Nigeria’s 220 million people. Meanwhile, MSMEs that employ over 80% of the workforce are being wiped out. What kind of government celebrates paying a fraction while destroying the livelihood of the majority?

Salaries that do get paid can not even take workers home. Civil servants now run ‘kabukabu’ with their cars. Offices rotate staff attendance because workers can not afford transport five days a week. This is the Tinubu economy: survival by improvisation.

On infrastructure, Tinubu’s presidency propaganda does not match reality. Interstate roads remain death traps. The modern rail system is non-existent in large parts of the country. Our ports are either stretched beyond capacity or others are grossly underutilised. Food, energy, rent, school fees, and transport are out of reach. The only policy that can put money back in people’s pockets immediately is the return of fuel subsidy. Tinubu won’t do it. Atiku will.

There is no doubt that Atiku can fund the subsidy as president even when Tinubu lacks the basic knowledge or capacity to do the same. Yet, they ask how Atiku will fund subsidy. The answer is simple: with competence, not cruelty.

First, experience is key in this regard. Subsidy existed for decades before Tinubu. Atiku was vice president when Nigeria managed it. He knows the books. Tinubu’s team does not.

Second, refine, don’t import. Tinubu has shown a lack of willingness and capacity to revamp our local refineries. He watched on as those refineries sank deeper into a state of disrepair while Dangote did what government should have done. A serious government revives local refining, saves billions in forex, and uses that to ease citizens’ pain. Tinubu chose hardship instead.

Third, kill corruption, not the people. The same government that claimed subsidy was corrupt now presides over an opaque regime where subsidy savings vanish without impact. Atiku’s plan is to digitize, track, and punish fraud, not punish Nigerians.

Fourth, grow the economy by ending insecurity, fixing power, and attracting FDI. Under Tinubu, we lost N94trn to closures. Under Atiku, policy will keep companies open and revenue flowing.

Fifth, embrace budget discipline. Tinubu’s budgets are rituals, not realities. A budget that handsomely rewards fake agencies to the tune of billions could not have been prepared to favour the people. And then, poor implementation chokes the economy. MDAs that should otherwise be productive and useful to the nation are starved of funds for critical projects. This has a negative multiplier effect on the nation’s economy.. Atiku’s record shows he understands that money must circulate to create relief. Budgets will be implemented on time and as documented.

Tinubu removed subsidy overnight with no cushion. Atiku is offering to restore it with a plan. That is the difference between leadership and trial-and-error.

With the country bleeding from Tinubu’s policies, Nigerians are not just hoping Atiku wins in 2027. They are praying for it. Because for the common man, Atiku’s promise is not politics. It is the difference between suffering and breathing again.

Jude Chijioke Ndukwe

Abuja, Nigeria.