2027:Iliyasu Kwankwaso Urges Nigerians To Reject Atiku’s Plans To Restore Fuel Subsidy
•Says policy could push petrol price to N4,000 per liter.
•Warns move would plunge the citizens and the nation into excruciating poverty and uncertainties.
•Insists restoring the subsidy regime could impose a heavy financial burden on the country.
By Abdullahi Yusuf
A Member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Musa Illiyasu Kwankwaso, has cautioned Nigerians against yielding to “the deceit” of restoring petrol subsidy by the ADC Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, warning that the move would plunge the citizens and the nation into excruciating poverty and uncertainties.
Dr Musa Illiyasu Kwankwaso, who is also the Director Finance Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority (HJRBDA), also warned that restoring the subsidy regime could impose a heavy financial burden on the country.
“As it is now, President Tinubu has after the removal of the subsidy, stabilized the economy and improved foreign saving which is the largest in recent years, while school children are enjoying massive Federal Government support,” the APC bigwig said in a statement circulated to journalists in Kano on Monday.
He also argued that restoring the subsidy could place additional pressure on government finances and affect spending on workers’ wages, education grants, healthcare, pensions and infrastructure.
Similarly, he warned, reversing the policy could bring back fuel queues and create fresh challenges for the government in meeting its financial obligations.
Kwankwaso noted that the subsidy debate should go beyond political arguments, urging Nigerians to consider how the government would finance such a policy without recreating the fiscal pressures associated with the previous arrangement.
He said with the subsidy removal,State Governments are now able to pay salaries consistently and also execute lots of development projects across the federation.
“And at the same time, Federal Government is without any hiccups, undertaking massive projects execution from Lagos to Calabar Coastal Roads, to Kano/Abuja highway, to Kano/Maiduguri highway,” he said.
The APC stalwart, therefore, urged Nigerians to totally reject “anything Atiku Abubakar and his outdated policies and continue to believe in and support the President Tinubu administration.”