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The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) would reintroduce fuel subsidy in a different form if elected in 2027, the party’s vice-presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said.
Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor, disclosed this on Tuesday during a television interview while discussing fuel pricing and the removal of subsidy by the Bola Tinubu administration.
He said an NDC government led by its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would adopt measures aimed at reducing the cost of petrol, including investing in domestic refining.
Asked whether the party would face resistance in the North-West over its position on fuel subsidy, Kwankwaso said the NDC would introduce “subsidy in our own way.”
According to him, the government could establish refineries where necessary and expand domestic refining capacity to increase local fuel supply and reduce prices.
“Now, if individuals in this country could build refineries, I see no reason why government, under certain circumstances, will not build a refinery or refineries to the extent that we achieve the minimum requirement,” he said.
Kwankwaso said the objective would be to ensure that Nigerians could buy petrol at what he described as a reasonable and affordable price.
“We, in the NDC, will do whatever it takes, really, to put the price of oil down,” he added.
He also criticised the manner in which the Tinubu administration removed the petrol subsidy, arguing that the policy was implemented immediately after the president assumed office without sufficient consideration of its potential consequences.
Kwankwaso noted that major candidates in the 2023 presidential election, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, had campaigned on removing the subsidy, but said Tinubu chose to implement the policy immediately after taking office.
President Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy during his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, declaring that “subsidy is gone.”
The policy was followed by a significant increase in petrol prices, which rose from below N200 per litre to more than N500 in many parts of the country, with consequential increases in transportation and other living costs.
Kwankwaso’s comments come amid renewed debate over petrol pricing and subsidy policy as political parties and presidential candidates set out their economic positions ahead of the 2027 general elections.
