Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has said politicians who keep shifting their positions on fuel subsidy are inconsistent.
This followed the latest declaration by the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) vice-presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, that the party, if elected, would restore subsidy in a different form.
Kwankwaso, who is the running mate to Peter Obi, spoke on a national television programme, where he maintained that the party would bring back subsidy ‘in our own way,’ if elected in 2027.
He criticised President Bola Tinubu’s removal of petrol subsidy, describing the action as a mistake that had plunged the country into a ‘total mess’. Kwankwaso said the NDC would explore measures to reduce petrol prices, including increased government investment in domestic refining.
The former Kano State governor argued that if private individuals could establish refineries, government could also build refineries to a level capable of meeting the country’s minimum requirements and making petrol available to Nigerians at a reasonable price.
His position has, however, sparked a fresh debate over the consistency of opposition politicians on the controversial subsidy policy.
But Sowore, who is also campaigning on a platform that seeks a return to subsidy, expressed a different view on the matter.
He said politicians were evasive on the matter, failing to show a clear position on where they stand.
The AAC candidate’s intervention comes against the backdrop of a policy difference between Kwankwaso and Obi.
While Kwankwaso said the NDC would reintroduce subsidy in a different form, Obi has maintained that subsidy should be removed, arguing that the problem was the way the policy was implemented and the failure to deploy the savings transparently.
Obi restated his position in August at this year’s Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The NDC presidential candidate said he still subscribed to subsidy removal but faulted the management of the proceeds.
The conflicting positions have placed the fuel subsidy question back at the centre of the opposition’s economic debate ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Kwankwaso’s declaration is also significant because he had criticised President Tinubu for removing the subsidy immediately after assuming office in May 2023, arguing that the government failed to consider the consequences of the decision.
He said the NDC would not simply return to the old arrangement but would adopt a different mechanism to make petrol affordable.
‘We are bringing subsidy in our own way,’ Kwankwaso said.
He also said an NDC administration would ‘do whatever it takes’ to bring down the price of petrol.
Kwankwaso’s latest position has, therefore, opened another front in the opposition’s campaign debate, with questions likely to persist over whether or not the NDC’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates share the same position on fuel subsidy.
For Sowore, the controversy provides an opportunity to challenge what he called the changing political positions on a policy with direct consequences for all Nigerians.
The debate is expected to feature prominently as the 2027 campaign gathers momentum and political parties present competing economic prescriptions to voters.