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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Economy & Trade

Atiku’s Fuel Plan Designed to Make Petrol Affordable, Says ADC Chieftain, Okonkwo

From ThisDay · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • A spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar's 2027 presidential campaign defended his fuel affordability plan, stating it aims to make petrol accessible to Nigerians.
  • The plan, called the Atiku Fuel Affordability Plan (AFAP), differs from the old subsidy regime and focuses on leveraging domestic refining capacity.
  • The spokesperson criticized President Tinubu's understanding of the plan, arguing it would use affordable crude oil for local refineries to produce cheaper fuel.

Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesperson for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar's 2027 presidential campaign, has clarified that Abubakar's proposal to restore petrol subsidy is designed to make fuel affordable for Nigerians, not to reinstate the previous controversial system. Okonkwo stated that President Bola Tinubu misunderstood the initiative, which he termed the Atiku Fuel Affordability Plan (AFAP).

The whole idea of the Atiku plan is affordability of fuel to the ordinary Nigerian.

— Kenneth OkonkwoExplaining the purpose of Atiku Abubakar's fuel plan

Appearing on Channels Television, Okonkwo emphasized that Abubakar is not advocating for a return to the old subsidy model, which heavily relied on imported petrol and imposed significant financial burdens. He dismissed President Tinubu's criticism that the proposal showed ignorance of governance and economics. Okonkwo insisted that Abubakar's plan is fundamentally different from the past system.

It is ignorant of Tinubu to say that Atiku wants to go back to the subsidy of the old.

— Kenneth OkonkwoResponding to President Tinubu's criticism

According to Okonkwo, the AFAP would utilize Nigeria's increasing domestic refining capacity. The plan involves ensuring local refineries receive crude oil at affordable prices, enabling them to produce fuel at a reduced cost for consumers. "I will supply the needed crude to our local refineries at a price that will be fair enough for them to use to produce the fuel at a reduced and affordable price to Nigerians," Okonkwo explained.

I will supply the needed crude to our local refineries at a price that will be fair enough for them to use to produce the fuel at a reduced and affordable price to Nigerians.

— Kenneth OkonkwoDetailing how the plan would work

Okonkwo attributed the issues with the old subsidy regime to Nigeria's complete dependence on imported fuel, which allowed for manipulation of import volumes and subsidy payments. He stressed that Abubakar's plan would avoid this by focusing on domestic production, unlike the previous system where "We didn’t have any refinery."

This was the way the subsidy of the old operated. They were importing 100% of the fuel. We didn’t have any refinery. Atiku is not going back to that and cannot even go back to that.

— Kenneth OkonkwoContrasting the new plan with the old subsidy system
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Originally published by ThisDay. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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