Nigerians‘ll reject your one-month fuel bribe, Atiku, ADC-PCC tell FG

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has faulted the federal government’s proposed 30-day petrol discount at Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited stations,

In a statement issued on Thursday by the Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president described the measure as a temporary intervention that would not address the hardship caused by high fuel prices.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedel, said that the 30-day arrangement is not a return to petrol subsidy, adding that the government would allow NNPC to sell petrol at cost during the period.

Atiku described the initiative as a “panic-driven publicity stunt” and accused the administration of offering temporary relief instead of addressing the wider cost-of-living crisis.

“Atiku totally rejects this calendar-scheduled, election-laced subsidy package. Nigerians are not fools to be offered a month of discounted fuel after years of punishing prices and then expected to forget the hardship when the discount expires. This is shameless and heartless,” he said.

Also, the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) described the federal government’s decision to reduce the price of petrol for 30 days as a desperate, shameless and insulting attempt to bribe Nigerians ahead of the 2027 general election.

In a statement, Thursday, the Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC-PCC, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the announcement was not only laughable but also amounted to an admission that the federal government chose to inflict unprecedented hardship on Nigerians.

“After over three years of subjecting Nigerians to excruciating pain through the reckless removal of fuel subsidy, the collapse of the naira and suffocating economic policies, the Tinubu administration now thinks it can bribe Nigerians with 30 days of cheaper fuel.

“Nigerians will reject your one-month bribe,” he said.

Ologbondiyan described the announcement as a political gimmick rather than an economic policy, saying it was evidence of growing panic within the Presidency as the 2027 elections approaches.