2027: SDP’s Adebayo accuses Atiku of inconsistency over plan to restore subsidy

The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has accused former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of inconsistency over his decision to restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027.

Adebayo made the remark on Wednesday during an interview with News Central.

Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has said he would restore subsidy if elected in 2027, arguing that Nigeria has sufficient resources to provide relief for its citizens.

However, Adebayo said the position was at odds with Atiku’s stance during the 2023 presidential election, when the former vice-president campaigned on the promise of removing petrol subsidy.

“My colleagues are changing parties, changing manifesto. For example, Vice President Atiku Abubakar said four years ago he will remove subsidy on day one and he will sell NNPC. Now four years later, he is in another party saying no, I am going to restore subsidy,” Adebayo said.

He described the shift in position as contradictory, noting that Atiku had previously described the subsidy regime as economically unsustainable.

“Something that was in place, you said you will remove it. Now your colleague removed it. Now you say you want to put it back. Inconsistency,” the SDP candidate said.

Atiku contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), alongside other leading candidates who also advocated the removal of petrol subsidy as part of their economic programmes.

President Bola Tinubu eventually removed the subsidy on his inauguration in May 2023, triggering a significant increase in petrol prices and subsequent economic pressure on households and businesses.

Atiku has since argued that his proposed intervention in 2027 would not amount to a return to the former subsidy regime, but would involve using Nigeria’s crude oil resources to support domestic refining and reduce the cost of petroleum products.

Adebayo also criticised the movement of political actors between parties ahead of the 2027 election, saying the trend had weakened ideological consistency in Nigerian politics.

“Everybody who ran against me last time, apart from AAC candidate (Omoyele Sowore), has gone to another political party,” he said.