Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has hit back at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the President’s criticism of his proposed intervention in the petroleum sector, describing Tinubu’s position as a reflection of “serious ignorance” of economic management.
Atiku, in a statement issued on Friday by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, said the President was not in a position to lecture him on economic management, accusing the Tinubu administration of worsening the cost of living while celebrating increased allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
Responding to Tinubu’s characterisation of his petroleum-sector proposal as evidence of serious ignorance, Atiku said the real ignorance was the belief that the suffering of Nigerians could be regarded as an economic policy.
“The real ignorance is believing suffering is economic policy. Tinubu removed subsidy from Nigerians’ pockets, but is yet to remove questions from his books,” Atiku said.
The former Vice President accused the Federal Government of creating a situation in which Nigerians have lost the relief previously associated with fuel subsidy while opaque costs allegedly remain within the petroleum sector.
Atiku stressed that his proposal should not be mistaken for a return to what he described as a corrupt and open-ended subsidy regime. Rather, he said he was advocating a targeted, capped, budgeted, time-bound and independently audited production-support mechanism tied directly to domestic refining.
According to him, the proposed arrangement would be designed to protect consumers from sudden and damaging petroleum price shocks while supporting domestic refining capacity.
Atiku also challenged the Federal Government to explain what he described as ₦17.5 trillion in under-recoveries contained in the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
He specifically questioned the reported ₦7.13 trillion in energy-security costs and another ₦8.67 trillion, demanding greater clarity over the nature and purpose of the funds.
“If subsidy is dead, why are under-recoveries alive?” Atiku asked.
He argued that the Tinubu administration had effectively given Nigerians “the worst of both worlds” by removing direct relief for consumers while allegedly retaining unclear and opaque costs within the petroleum sector.
“Tinubu has given Nigerians the worst of both worlds: removed relief but retained opaque costs,” he said.
Atiku also dismissed the increased financial allocations to state governors as “fiscal sedation,” arguing that higher FAAC distributions should not be presented as evidence of sound economic management when Nigerians continue to face rising living costs.
The former Vice President further renewed his demand for the Federal Government to reconcile the approximately ₦30 trillion in FAAC revenues with the ₦12.8 trillion Service-Wide Vote contained in the 2026 budget.
He maintained that the figures require greater transparency and accountability, particularly amid concerns over the country’s fiscal management and the economic hardship confronting citizens.
Atiku’s latest response deepens the ongoing political and economic disagreement between him and the Tinubu administration over the removal of petrol subsidy, the management of petroleum-sector finances, government revenues and the impact of economic policies on ordinary Nigerians.
The former Vice President maintained that his proposed intervention was intended to provide a structured and accountable mechanism for supporting domestic petroleum production and refining, rather than restoring the subsidy system in its former form.
