The Vice-Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said an administration led by the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would reintroduce fuel subsidy, but in a different form.
Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor, stated this in an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday while discussing the fuel subsidy policy of President Bola Tinubu’s administration and the positions of presidential candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Asked whether the NDC would face difficulties campaigning in the North-West, where there is significant support for the return of fuel subsidy, Kwankwaso said the party would introduce its own approach to subsidy.
“No, no, no, look. We are bringing subsidy in our own way,” he said. Explaining how the proposed approach would work, Kwankwaso said an NDC government would consider investing in refineries and expanding domestic refining capacity to make petrol available to Nigerians at what he described as a reasonable price.
He said the government could establish refineries where necessary, arguing that increased domestic production would help bring down the cost of petroleum products.
“Of course, there are many ways. One, I can tell you: now we have a refinery built by a businessman, and I’m sure more refineries would be built.
“Now, if individuals in this country could build refineries, I see no reason why government, under certain circumstances, will not build a refinery or refineries to the extent that we achieve the minimum requirement,” Kwankwaso said.
According to him, the objective would be to ensure that Nigerians could purchase petrol at an affordable and reasonable price.
“What is the minimum requirement? The minimum requirement is for the people across the country to go to the filling stations and buy fuel at a reasonable price.
“We, in the NDC, will do whatever it takes, really, to put the price of oil down,” he added. Kwankwaso also criticised the manner in which the Tinubu administration implemented the removal of the petrol subsidy, saying the policy was introduced immediately after the President assumed office without adequate consideration of its consequences.
He argued that the major presidential candidates in the 2023 election, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, had campaigned on the need to remove the subsidy, but said Tinubu opted to implement the policy immediately.
“No, that’s what I know. Of course, among the three of them, Bola Tinubu decided to do so and removed the subsidy. And the consequences that we thought would happen, certainly happened.
“And not only he decided to remove the subsidy, what he did was to remove it immediately, in fact, day one, without looking at all those possible issues that were associated with that. And that’s how we find ourselves in this total mess, economically,” he said.
President Tinubu announced the end of the petrol subsidy in his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, declaring that “subsidy is gone.”
The announcement was followed by a sharp increase in petrol prices, with pump prices rising from below N200 per litre to more than N500 in many parts of the country. The increase also contributed to higher transportation and other living costs.
Kwankwaso’s comments come amid renewed debate over fuel pricing and subsidy policy as political parties and opposition figures articulate their economic positions ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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