Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has described Atiku Abubakar’s proposal on fuel subsidy as a political strategy comparable to the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket adopted by the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 election.
Fayemi, a former Minister of Solid Minerals Development, made the remarks during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Monday while discussing the debate over fuel subsidy and Atiku’s position on the issue.
“My take on that is that Atiku’s proposal of subsidy is politically equivalent to our own Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2023. It’s a political strategy. It’s not an economic construct,” Fayemi said. He acknowledged, however, that the proposal could appeal to Nigerians struggling with the economic impact of the removal of petrol subsidy.
“But understandably, it’s a political strategy that will sell with those who are hard done by the impact of fuel subsidy removal,” he said. Fayemi reiterated his support for the removal of fuel subsidy, saying he had advocated the policy for years, including during his tenure as chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.
“I was and I remain an advocate of fuel subsidy removal. As chairman of the governors’ forum, I spent four years in this battle,” he said. According to Fayemi, President Bola Tinubu inherited substantial work on subsidy removal from the previous administration, although he disagreed with how the policy was ultimately implemented.
“What President Tinubu inherited, in fairness to him, was the work that had already been completed by that administration. The only challenge I had with it was the way it was done,” Fayemi said. He said state governors had previously worked with the Federal Government and the World Bank to develop a safety-net strategy intended to cushion the effects of subsidy removal on vulnerable Nigerians.
“However, as I have also consistently said, because at the Nigerian Governors Forum, we actually had a committee work with the federal government and the World Bank, by the way, to develop a safety net strategy that would address what would happen to the most vulnerable segment of our population,” he said. Fayemi argued that the continuing hardship faced by vulnerable Nigerians was what Atiku was seeking to capitalise on politically with his subsidy proposal. DownloadInteractive Maps
“I believe that’s what Vice President Atiku is taking advantage of. The vulnerable segment of the population is still hard done by,” he said. He added that many Nigerians were less concerned about the technical arguments surrounding subsidy policy than the immediate challenge of meeting their basic needs.
“They just want to live reasonably well, eke out a living, have one or two meals a day, be able to send their kids to school, not be taken in by sickness or anything that might create further problems for them,” Fayemi said. Fayemi also linked poverty and inequality to Nigeria’s security challenges, saying they were “also at the root of the insurgency and the banditry that we’re dealing with.”
He maintained that Atiku’s subsidy proposal should be viewed as an electoral strategy aimed at tapping into public dissatisfaction over the effects of subsidy removal ahead of the 2027 election, comparing it with the APC’s decision to field a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket in 2023.