Yilwatda: Atiku’s subsidy proposal would cancel student loans and bring back fuel queues

Nigeria’s debate over fuel subsidies has become a dispute over what the government could afford to sacrifice in exchange for cheaper petrol. Nentawe Yilwatda, national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, warned that restoring the old subsidy regime could cancel student loans and bring back fuel queues.

“

The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to restore fuel subsidy raises fundamental questions about how such a policy would be financed and sustained without returning Nigeria to the cycle of fiscal pressures that characterised the previous arrangement.

Yilwatda was speaking in Abuja after receiving economic stakeholders who visited to discuss the state of the economy, ongoing reforms and prospects for sustainable growth. In a statement issued by his media adviser, Abimbola Tooki, he said the issue should not be reduced to political rhetoric.

“The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to restore fuel subsidy raises fundamental questions about how such a policy would be financed and sustained without returning Nigeria to the cycle of fiscal pressures that characterised the previous arrangement,” Yilwatda said. He argued that cheaper petrol at the pump would not show the full cost of the policy.

“

Subsidy may appear attractive because it promises cheaper petrol, but Nigerians must also ask the bigger question: who pays for the subsidy and what happens to the resources that government must divert to finance it?

“Subsidy may appear attractive because it promises cheaper petrol, but Nigerians must also ask the bigger question: who pays for the subsidy and what happens to the resources that government must divert to finance it?” he said. He added that any assessment should include the effect on salaries, pensions, education, health care, infrastructure and the government’s ability to meet its obligations.

“

A policy cannot be judged only by its immediate benefit at the pump. We must examine its impact on government revenues, salaries, pensions, education, healthcare, infrastructure and the overall capacity of the government to meet its obligations to citizens.

Yilwatda said state governments had previously struggled to pay workers, with some making partial payments. He attributed improved finances in many states to the removal of the subsidy and higher federal allocations, which he said had helped fund salaries, pensions and development projects. He also pointed to prolonged disruptions at Nigerian universities under the previous administration, warning that an unsustainable subsidy policy could weaken public financing for education and other essential services.

“

A return to a fiscally unsustainable subsidy regime could have consequences far beyond the price of petrol.