Atiku Accuses Tinubu of Copying His Fuel Subsidy Plan

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of copying his petrol subsidy proposal but reducing it to a 30-day discount.

Atiku spoke on Friday in Abuja during the inauguration of the African Democratic Congress presidential campaign council ahead of the 2027 general election.

“Bola, you have borrowed the idea but missed the lesson.

"You had a production subsidy and reduced it to a 30-day gesture,” he said.

The former vice president compared Tinubu to a student who copied another student’s work and claimed credit for it.

“You copied my production subsidy proposal.

"Nothing wrong about that.

"You stripped away the part that makes it work and handed Nigerians a 30-day discount.

"Where is the rest of the answer?” he asked.

Atiku said the president had previously criticised his proposal to support locally refined petrol, describing the government’s latest move as an acceptance of the idea it had rejected.

“Now in a desperate and clumsy retreat, you have shamelessly embraced the principle you mocked,” he said, demanding an apology from Tinubu.

The Federal Government announced on Thursday that petrol sold at Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited filling stations would attract a discount for an initial 30 days, with public transport operators given priority.

Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele said the arrangement was not a return to fuel subsidy but a plan to sell petrol at cost.

The government is also considering a price ceiling of ₦1,350 per litre at the wholesale level to limit the impact of rising global oil prices.

Atiku has proposed a capped, budgeted and independently audited production subsidy for petrol refined in Nigeria.

He said the plan would support local refiners and help reduce fuel costs.

However, the government has questioned the legal and financial basis of his proposal, citing provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act that provide for market-based fuel pricing.