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The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on media and public communications, Sunday Dare, has accused African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar of political opportunism for pledging to restore the petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027.
Dare, in a statement issued on Sunday, described Atiku’s position as a reversal of the stance he took ahead of the 2023 presidential election, when he supported removing the petrol subsidy.
He accused the ADC presidential candidate of exploiting Nigerians’ current economic hardship for political gain, describing the move as “a sordid, stingy manipulation of the public psyche.”
“To watch a self-styled statesman—who less than four years ago cast himself as an uncompromising apostle of market-driven reform—scramble to promise the reintroduction of petrol subsidies is nothing short of political apostasy,” Dare said.
Atiku recently said he would restore petrol subsidy if elected president, arguing that Nigerians had not seen the benefits of the savings generated by its removal.
He said, “I did not oppose the removal of the oil subsidy, but where is the money? Where did it go?” and pledged that “if elected, I will bring back the oil subsidy, and whoever stole the money must refund it.”
Dare, however, argued that Atiku’s latest position contradicts his previous advocacy for ending the subsidy regime.
Atiku said he had chaired a committee on subsidy removal during his time as vice president and maintained that he would “continue from where we stopped, remove fuel subsidies totally, and channel the subsidy funds back to the economy.”
Dare described Atiku’s latest position as “a radical reversal” and “the ultimate hallmark of a desperate politician who cares less about long-term fiscal sustainability and more about capturing power by any means necessary.”
He also defended the Tinubu administration’s decision to end the subsidy, arguing that the reform had helped redirect resources towards the country and supported the development of domestic refining capacity.
“The emergence of domestic refining capacity, the liberation of trillions of naira into the Federation Account for sub-national infrastructural development, and the steady weaning of the Nigerian economy from life-support leakages are milestones,” Dare said.
Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023, shortly after taking office.
He has repeatedly defended the decision, saying the subsidy had become unsustainable and had cost Nigeria trillions of naira annually.
In May 2026, Tinubu said the reform “saved the country from imminent bankruptcy” and laid the foundation for economic recovery.
Atiku has countered that the problem is not necessarily subsidy removal itself but how the resulting savings have been managed.
He said the funds should have been used to tackle poverty, insecurity, education and youth unemployment.
Dare nevertheless warned against returning to what he described as the old subsidy system, saying it would “sabotage the nascent renaissance of local refining, crush private sector confidence, and plunge the country back into chronic foreign exchange haemorrhage.”
He urged Nigerians to reject what he called “this sordid narrative of regression,” arguing that leadership required defending difficult reforms rather than pursuing electoral advantage.
“Atiku’s hypocrisy is an insult to the collective intelligence of a resilient populace navigating global economic headwinds,” Dare said.
*Atiku’s Subsidy U-Turn: The Bankruptcy of Desperate Ambition*
In the architecture of modern political opportunism, few spectacles rival the breathtaking hypocrisy of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s recent policy pivot.
To watch a self-styled statesman—who less than four years ago…
— Sunday Dare,CON (@SundayDareSD) August 23, 2026
