Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged President Bola Tinubu to take immediate steps to reduce the price of petrol and ease the economic hardship confronting Nigerians.
Atiku made the call in a statement titled “Address on Fuel Prices, Palliatives and the Cost of Living,” in which he criticised the impact of the petrol subsidy removal introduced by the Federal Government on May 29, 2023.
He said Nigerians had borne the consequences of the policy for more than three years, with the rising cost of petrol pushing up transportation fares, food prices, production expenses and household costs.
According to him, farmers, traders, workers, manufacturers and businesses have all been affected by higher energy and logistics costs, while families have been left with reduced purchasing power.
Atiku recalled that when he previously advocated government intervention to reduce petrol prices, Tinubu dismissed the proposal as evidence of “serious ignorance” of governance and the economy.
He, however, questioned whether the Nigeria Labour Congress, petroleum marketers, manufacturers and millions of Nigerians who had raised concerns over the rising cost of living could all be described as ignorant.
The former vice president said the government should measure economic reforms by their impact on the living standards of citizens rather than by increases in revenue, allocations or Gross Domestic Product.
He urged Tinubu to use what he described as his remaining eight months in office to provide relief to Nigerians, adding that the President should not hesitate to adopt his proposal to reduce petrol prices, even if it meant renaming the policy or taking credit for it.
“What matters to me is that Nigerians pay less,” Atiku said, stressing that an idea should not be rejected simply because it originated from a political opponent.
