Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s promise to restore a targeted petrol subsidy if elected President has triggered a fresh political and economic debate, with the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) accusing him of an opportunistic policy reversal.

Atiku, who vowed that neither President Bola Tinubu nor his supporters could stop him from implementing the policy, criticised the Tinubu administration’s approach to petrol subsidy removal.

In a statement issued in Abuja by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that the government’s claim that petrol subsidy had been abolished was difficult to reconcile with tax credits and other incentives available to petroleum operators.

He accused the administration of presenting subsidy removal as an economic reform while simultaneously granting fiscal concessions to oil investors.

The former vice president’s position has drawn reactions from the Presidency and APC, which questioned his policy proposal and described it as a reversal of previous positions.

Other presidential contenders have also joined the debate, raising questions over both the government’s handling of subsidy removal and Atiku’s record on the issue.

The renewed controversy is expected to make fuel pricing, subsidy policy and the broader management of Nigeria’s petroleum sector key issues ahead of the 2027 presidential election.