Atiku Unveils ‘Alternative’ Subsidy Model, Vows To Track Every Barrel

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has proposed a new petroleum subsidy model that would shift government support from fuel imports to domestic refining, with strict spending limits, transparency and independent auditing.

Under the Atiku Economic Recovery Plan (AERP) 2027, qualifying public and private refineries would receive Nigerian crude at preferential prices, subject to production, efficiency and domestic-supply requirements.

Atiku, in a statement on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the proposal was not a return to the old subsidy regime but a targeted intervention designed to lower energy costs and expand domestic refining.

“My proposal is not to resurrect the old subsidy regime. We will move subsidy from importation to production, from middlemen to Nigerian refineries, and from unverifiable claims to verifiable barrels,” he said.

“The principle is simple: the subsidy will follow the barrel.”
He said the cost of subsidised crude would be openly accounted for, with annual spending capped through the federal budget.

“The cost will be known. The ceiling will be known. The beneficiaries will be known. And, most importantly, the benefits delivered to Nigerians will be measurable,” Atiku said.

He also proposed that no refinery would receive subsidised crude without independently verified delivery of corresponding petroleum products to the Nigerian market.

“No phantom cargoes. No fictitious imports. No unverifiable under-recoveries. No retrospective claims,” he said.

“If you receive subsidised Nigerian crude, you must refine it in Nigeria, supply the agreed products to Nigerians and pass the benefit to Nigerians.

Otherwise, you do not qualify.”
Atiku said access to the programme would be rules-based and open to qualifying refineries, while operators that divert subsidised crude or products, manipulate records or fail to meet domestic supply obligations would lose eligibility, refund the subsidy and face sanctions.

“Nigeria will not subsidise anybody’s private profit. Public support must produce a measurable public benefit,” he said.

The ADC candidate said the intervention would have a statutory sunset clause, with support progressively reduced as domestic refining capacity, efficiency and competition improve.

“Our objective is not a permanent subsidy. It is to use temporary and disciplined support to build a refining industry strong enough eventually not to need subsidy,” he said.

Atiku said lower energy and transportation costs would ultimately help farmers, manufacturers, traders and consumers by reducing inflationary pressures and restoring purchasing power.

“The ultimate objective is not merely cheaper petrol. It is cheaper transportation, cheaper food, stronger businesses, more Nigerian jobs and greater purchasing power.”

He also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s handling of subsidy removal, saying Nigerians were made to bear the immediate cost of higher fuel prices without sufficient explanation of subsequent petroleum-related expenditures.

“President Tinubu stood at Eagle Square on May 29, 2023 and declared that ‘subsidy is gone.’ Nigerians were immediately handed the bill,” he said.

Atiku cited NNPCL audited financial statements showing about N4.84 trillion in Energy Security Expenses in 2023 and N7.13 trillion in 2024, and demanded clarification on the economic substance of the expenses.

“You cannot abolish subsidies at Eagle Square and allow subsidy-like costs to resurface in government accounts without explaining the contradiction,” he said.

He further called for reconciliation of what he described as approximately N30 trillion in Federation revenues, deductions, savings, transfers and related funds.

“Let nobody misrepresent the argument. We are not saying N30 trillion is fuel subsidy or that N30 trillion has been proven stolen,” Atiku said.
“We are saying that approximately N30 trillion reflected across Federation revenues, deductions, savings, transfers and related classifications requires a complete, month-by-month public reconciliation.”

He urged the government to publish details of deductions, beneficiaries, transfers, balances and their legal authority.
“These are government figures. The accounts are in government custody. The burden cannot be transferred to Nigerians or the opposition,” he said.

Atiku also vowed to investigate previous subsidy transactions and prosecute anyone found, through due process, to have fraudulently obtained or diverted public funds.

“Anyone who stole subsidy money should prepare to return it. But we will not replace one opaque system with another,” he said.
Summing up his proposal, Atiku said: “Ours will be: define the intervention, establish the ceiling, appropriate the money, track the crude, verify the production, guarantee the consumer benefit, publish the accounts and progressively reduce the subsidy.”

“Target it. Cap it. Budget it. Track it. Audit it. Make Nigerians feel the benefit. Reduce it as domestic production grows. And ultimately, end the need for it altogether.”