Atiku Will Bring Back Fuel Subsidy? The Memory We Must Not Erase -By Abdullahi Abubakar

“Atiku will bring back fuel subsidy.”

It sounds comforting. It sounds like the kind of promise people make when they want Nigerians to forget the past. But before anyone celebrates that promise, perhaps we should take a walk down memory lane.

Atiku Abubakar has previously spoken in favour of removing fuel subsidy. During the 2019 presidential campaign, he argued that subsidy should go and that the resources should instead be redirected toward development. In 2023, the same Atiku was again quoted advocating the removal of fuel subsidy, even while criticising the manner in which the Tinubu administration implemented its own policy.

So today, when Nigerians are being told that Atiku would simply bring back the subsidy, the obvious question is: what changed?

Did his economic philosophy change? Did the mathematics of subsidy suddenly become different? Or is this simply another campaign promise designed to appeal to Nigerians who are struggling with the cost of living?

The fuel subsidy debate is bigger than slogans. Subsidy costs the government enormous amounts of money, creates opportunities for corruption and smuggling, and can divert public resources away from infrastructure, education, healthcare and other productive investments.

That does not mean Nigerians should ignore the hardship caused by subsidy removal. They deserve policies that reduce the burden of higher transport and food costs and protect the poorest citizens. But promising to return to a policy you previously supported removing requires more than a campaign declaration. Nigerians deserve to know the numbers, the conditions and the long-term plan.

The irony is difficult to miss.

Yesterday, the argument was that fuel subsidy was unsustainable and had to go. Today, the same political space is presenting subsidy as a solution.

Nigerians should remember the record, not just the latest campaign slogan.

If Atiku genuinely intends to restore fuel subsidy, then he should clearly explain: How much will it cost? How will it be funded? For how long? And what happens when the subsidy bill becomes unsustainable again?

Politics is not amnesia.

You cannot tell Nigerians yesterday that subsidy must go, then return tomorrow and promise to bring it back as though the previous position never existed.

The question is not who can make the sweetest promise. The question is who has a credible and sustainable plan for Nigeria’s economy.