Fuel Subsidy: Atiku’s Proposal Is Political Opportunism — Coomassie

A prominent legal academic on Thursday bashed former vice president Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to reinstate fuel subsidies, saying the call reflected political opportunism rather than a coherent economic strategy.

A law lecturer at BAZE University, Abuja, Barrister Saifudeen Coomassie and commentator on national affairs, accused the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) of courting votes by promising a costly return to subsidies that, he said, would undo recent fiscal reforms. 

In a statement, Coomassie cited the scale of past subsidy spending and its legacy of debt and market distortions.

“We spent over ₦13 trillion on subsidy in 10 years. What did we get? Debt, smuggling, round‑tripping, and refineries that collapsed,” Coomassie said. 

“It enriched a few cabals while 200 million Nigerians got poorer.”

Coomassie who described subsidy removal as a bitter but necessary correction, praised President Bola Tinubu for what he called a willingness to take difficult economic decisions and urged policymakers to redirect scarce borrowing toward infrastructure and investment—examples he offered included compressed natural gas buses, roads, student loans and local refining capacity.

“Stop the bleeding,” he said. Take the money we were borrowing to drink fuel and invest it in CNG buses, roads, student loans, and local refining. That is long‑term prosperity, not applause today,” Comassie noted. 

He also accused the opposition of inconsistency, noting that major parties campaigned last year on removing subsidies and privatizing parts of the oil sector, but have, in his view, reversed course now that those reforms have been enacted.

“The biggest manifestos of both Atiku and Peter Obi in the last election were the removal of subsidy and the privatisation of the oil sector.

“Now that President Tinubu has implemented all their manifestos, they have nothing left to campaign on, so they are making a U‑turn. That is a clear sign of desperation.”

Responding to mounting criticism of the administration, Coomassie dismissed much of the opposition as elite resentment. 

He said, “Nation building is not about popularity. It is about doing what is right for the next generation,”warning that a return to subsidized fuel would saddle future budgets with recurring costs.

“The question before Nigerians is simple,” he said. Do we go back to a subsidy scam because we want cheap fuel today? Or do we stay the course to build infrastructure that our children will inherit? You cannot borrow money to subsidize what you do not produce.Returning subsidy is desperation for votes, not policy.”