Atiku Accuses Tinubu Of Visiting New York, Qatar, France To Lie About Removing Petrol Subsidy

Atiku Abubakar, 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of lying to foreign countries about the removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria.

In a statement on Sunday, Atiku said Tinubu visited the FMDQ in New York, Qatar, and France, where he told lies about removing petrol subsidy.

The former Vice-President who expressed his views in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, added that Tinubu’s actions would have a negative effect on the flow of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into Nigeria.

He said despite the claims of removing fuel subsidy, petrol scarcity continues to remain a major challenge in Nigeria.

Also, Atiku slammed the Tinubu-led administration for implementing a sham subsidy regime, as revealed in the financial statement recently released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

His words: “Tinubu visited the FMDQ in New York, visited Qatar, visited France where he told lies about removing petrol subsidies. Obviously, this is not a man who is serious about attracting FDI. More worrisome is that he is not even brave enough to admit that subsidy is being paid. The NNPCL admits that N7.8tn is owed to the national oil company by the Nigerian government.

“IMF estimates that subsidy payments this year will constitute 3% of GDP, which is about $7.5bn. This will be about N11.8tn. Yet, the petrol scarcity continues to linger while the Tinubu administration continues to frustrate the Dangote Refinery and even its own NNPCL facilities. Obviously, the subsidy regime has become an even wider conduit pipe through which monies for funding the 2027 election will come from.”