Former Delta State Commissioner for Oil and Gas Producing Areas, Sir Kenny Okolugbo, has strongly criticized the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, over his pledge to restore fuel subsidy if elected president in 2027.
Atiku’s stance has already stirred controversy, with members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) accusing him of attempting to drag Nigeria back into what they describe as a culture of corruption tied to subsidy payments.
In a video posted to his official X handle on Wednesday, Okolugbo argued that Atiku’s promise was little more than a political maneuver designed to win votes ahead of the 2027 election. He pointed to what he called an inconsistency in Atiku’s position, noting that the former vice president had campaigned in 2022 on a promise to scrap the subsidy entirely — a pledge he now appears to be reversing.
“I’m tired of this debate on fuel subsidy,” Okolugbo said. “Atiku, you cannot bring back fuel subsidy, you are only doing this because you want to win the 2027 election by all means.”
He went further, dismissing Atiku’s chances outright: “I assure you that Atiku cannot win this election, there’s no pathway. You couldn’t have said you’re going to remove the subsidy just at the last election and now you’re going to bring it back.”
Okolugbo acknowledged that the economy still has room to improve but warned against reversing subsidy removal, invoking memories of Nigeria’s past fiscal struggles. “Of course, we want the economy to do a lot better than it is now, but you cannot bring back subsidy and take us back to the dark old days when we were printing 30 trillion naira yet not able to pay salaries, the state couldn’t pay salaries,” he said.
He closed with a pointed remark on regional politics, suggesting Atiku’s ambitions were out of step with the current political rotation: “Maybe you’ll wait till 2031 when it goes back to the north. For now, it is the turn of the south.”
