Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), stated on Friday that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is reacting to Nigerians and Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate.
Abdullahi said this while appearing on Sunrise Daily on Channels Television.
His statement coincides with the announcement by Taiwo Oyedele, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, of a 30-day fuel price reduction at Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, or NNPCL, petrol stations.
Abdullahi commented that the discount was a marketing gimmick motivated by panic.
He insisted that it was a desperate and temporary gesture that cannot repair the damage caused by the crushing cost of fuel.
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Reacting to the development, Abdullahi said: “What you do is support these local refineries so that they can produce locally, there is no point like I listened to the NLC President when he said if you sell crude to local refineries in dollars, you export it first, and import it back.
“Atiku Abubakar is saying no, Nigeria is an oil producing country, we will sell outright crude for local refineries, we will sell it to them in naira and we will forgo whatever is necessary to be able to deliver fuel to Nigerians.
“The government is responding to what we are saying, Atiku had said in the past that he would remove subsidy and he is now saying that he would bring back subsidy.”
Meanwhile, in September, APC reiterated that the removal of fuel subsidies by his administration was a difficult but necessary decision that redirected national resources into productive sectors.
Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, the National Chairman of the APC, canvassed this stance while representing President Tinubu at the APC Professionals Forum’s second Policy Roundtable.
Yilwatda said the administration inherited “fuel subsidy distortions, multiple exchange-rate windows, weak revenue mobilisation, foreign-exchange shortages, rising debt-service pressures and years of inadequate investment in critical infrastructure” when Tinubu took office on 29 May 2023.
