Intervene in Oil & Gas Sector, Reduce Petrol, Diesel Pump Prices, Atiku Appeals to Tinubu

*** *Says Nigerians are suffering ***

**Chuks Okocha in Abuja **

Former vice-president and the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubukar, has called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the oil and gas sector by reducing the pump prices of petroleum and diesel in the overall interest of Nigerians.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja Friday, Atiku said: ”Bola Tinubu should not be ashamed to do what is necessary to lower the price of petrol simply because Atiku Abubakar proposed a government intervention.”

Speaking further, the former vice-president said: ”For more than three years, that burden has travelled from the petrol station to the bus stop, from the bus stop to the market, and from the market to the family dining table.

”When petrol becomes expensive, transportation becomes expensive. When transportation becomes expensive, food becomes expensive. Farmers pay more to move produce. Traders pay more to stock their shops. Workers pay more to get to work. Businesses pay more for logistics and energy.

”In the end, the Nigerian family receives the bill. When government makes energy expensive, it makes life expensive.

”This is no longer an argument between economists. It is the daily reality of millions of Nigerians.”

According to him, “These are the real tests of an economic policy. When I first argued that government should review its approach to the withdrawal of petrol subsidy and consider responsible intervention to bring down the cost of fuel, Mr. Bola Tinubu dismissed my proposal as demonstrating ‘serious ignorance’ of governance and the economy.

”My dear Bola, events since then have raised a simple question.

Is the Nigeria Labour Congress also ignorant when it calls for urgent intervention to cushion workers from rising petrol prices?

”Are petroleum marketers ignorant when they called for policies that strengthen domestic refining and helped moderate pump prices?

”Are Nigerian manufacturers ignorant when they warned that power-related expenses now consume more than half of operating costs?

”And are the millions of Nigerians crying out because they can no longer afford transportation, food and other basic necessities also ignorant?

”When workers, producers, marketers and ordinary families are all raising the alarm, government must listen.

”If everybody who questions your policy is ignorant, while only the president is presumed to be wise, then we have a leadership problem on our hands.

”Leadership requires the humility to confront the consequences of policy and the courage to change course.”

The former vice-president said across Nigerian factories, production costs are rising while unsold goods pile up in warehouses, adding that manufacturers struggle to keep producing, while families struggle to afford what they produce.

”The goods are there. The need is there. What is missing is the purchasing power. Government celebrates GDP growth, higher revenues and bigger allocations. But Nigerians judge the economy by what their money can buy.

”If government receives more naira while the citizen’s naira buys less food, less fuel, less electricity and less transportation, then bigger government revenues mean little to the family struggling to survive.

“Economic growth must enter the home. It must enter the market basket. It must show up in the purchasing power of the worker.

”A government collecting more money while its citizens can afford less cannot declare victory on the strength of bigger numbers alone,” Atiku stated.

According to the former vice-president, reform must ultimately be judged by what it does to the lives of the people, adding that it should expand production, create opportunity and improve living standards, as it cannot become an endless explanation for hardship.

He called on President Tinubu to act now, as the president has approximately eight months remaining in office.

”Bola, I want you to use those eight months to give Nigerians relief. And let me say this plainly: he should just take the idea, rename it if he wishes, and even take the credit.

”What matters to me is that, Nigerians pay less. A sensible idea does not become a bad idea because it came from your opponent. If responsible intervention can lower prices, intervene. If changing course can help Nigerian families, change course.

”And Nigerians do not need another elaborate palliative ceremony. Do not make life unbearable and then distribute bags of rice as evidence of compassion.

”Do not break a man’s legs, hand him crutches and demand applause for providing mobility. Emergency assistance has its place, but palliatives cannot substitute for sound economic policy. A bag of rice cannot repair an economy in which transportation costs outrun salaries.

”A cash transfer cannot permanently compensate a worker whose income is continuously eroded by energy costs.

”Palliatives manage pain. Good policy addresses the source of the pain. And as if the pressure on families were not enough, Nigerians are now being told that electricity subsidies will be phased out from 2027,” he said.

Atiku said electricity is already expensive, adding that families are calculating how long their units would last, while small businesses are struggling to keep the lights on.

He said manufacturers are spending enormous amounts on electricity, diesel and alternative power simply to keep factories running, asking the president that how much more can the Nigerian family carry, as the barber needs electricity for his clippers and the tailor needs it for her machines?

The former vice-president said the frozen-food seller needs electricity to preserve her stock, while the welder needs it for his equipment and the manufacturer needs it to keep the factory alive.

He said: ”The lesson of petrol must not be repeated with electricity. Do not remove first and think later. Do not impose the pain first and search for palliatives afterwards. When energy becomes unaffordable, everything becomes unaffordable.

”The president should know that eight months may sound short inside Aso Rock. But eight months is a very long time when you are living from hand to mouth.”

He appealed to President Tinubu to use the eight months remaining in his tenure to reduce the burden on Nigerians, adding that if Tinubu’s government requires policy ideas or technical input on how to bring relief, he is prepared to make his available.

”Nigerians do not have to wait for another administration before they benefit from an idea that can help them today. If you need the framework, I will provide it. Implement it under your government. Give it whatever name you choose. Take the credit. I ask for only one thing: Let Nigerians breathe.

“I am prepared to compete with you politically. But I will never compete with the welfare of the Nigerian people. The presidency may be contested. The wellbeing of Nigerians should never be.

”If elected, from May 29, 2027, I will introduce a transparent production subsidy for petroleum products refined in Nigeria and sold to Nigerians. Think of a Nigerian rice miller. Government helps lower the cost of milling so the rice can sell for less. More families can afford it. As sales grow, the miller buys more rice from Nigerian farmers and employs more Nigerians to process, package and transport it.

”That means cheaper rice for families, more business for farmers and more jobs for Nigerians. Our production subsidy will work the same way: government support must bring prices down. Only products confirmed to be refined in Nigeria will qualify. Imported products will not.

”The programme will have a fixed spending limit, National Assembly approval and independent audits. For the remaining eight months, President Tinubu should use every responsible instrument available to reduce the burden on Nigerians. Bola Tinubu should not be ashamed to do it because Atiku Abubakar proposed it,” he stated.

Atiku said if elected in 2027, he would work to build an economy in which growth is not merely announced in Abuja but felt in Nigerian homes.

He said an economy with more production would result in more jobs, adding that where there are more revenues would translate to better lives for Nigerias, as economic growth means greater purchasing power.