We Opposed Atiku’s Push For Fuel Subsidy Removal During Obasanjo’s Govt – Olawepo-Hashim

Presidential Candidate of the Accord Party, Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has recounted how Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders under the Obasanjo administration rejected then Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s move to remove the fuel subsidy.

Olawepo-Hashim argued that Atiku’s position on subsidy removal predates the Tinubu administration, describing the former vice president as one of the earliest major advocates of subsidy removal and wholesale privatisation during Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.

He recalled that in 1999, during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, when Atiku served as Vice President and headed the government’s economic team, the administration increased petroleum product prices and removed subsidies.

Describing Atiku as the “father of subsidy removal” in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, he said the former vice president’s recent reversal on fuel subsidy removal deserves an explanation and an apology to Nigerians.
“The truth of the matter is that Atiku, before Tinubu, on the national political scene, has been the father of the idea of subsidy removal and wholesale privatisation in this republic, he and his so-called economic team.

“We combatted them vigorously during the early period of the Obasanjo government.”
Olawepo-Hashim recalled that he and other PDP officials publicly opposed the decision to increase petroleum product prices and remove subsidies as canvassed by the Obasanjo-led administration, in which Atiku, as vice president, headed the government’s economic team.

According to Olawepo-Hashim, “Alhaji Iro Dan Musa, then PDP Deputy National Chairman; Harry Marshall, National Vice Chairman, South-South; Abubakar Magaji, National Vice Chairman, North-Central; Emmanuel Ibeshi, National Publicity Secretary; and himself, then Deputy National Publicity Secretary, jointly addressed a press conference condemning the increase in petroleum prices and the removal of subsidies.”

He added that the National Assembly also passed resolutions against the policy, after which the executive reversed its decision.

“We opposed subsidy removal when it was politically inconvenient to do so. We did not suddenly discover the suffering of Nigerians because another election is approaching.”

He said the historical record demonstrated that his opposition to subsidy removal was not an electoral strategy.

Olawepo-Hashim said he had consistently opposed the removal of subsidies on petroleum products and reiterated his position during an interview on Trust TV last week, where he advocated restoring subsidies on petroleum and other strategically important products as part of measures to protect citizens and productive sectors from excessive economic shocks.

According to him, the subsequent change in position by politicians who previously advocated subsidy removal raises questions about the sincerity and originality of their new positions.

“Some candidates who campaigned in the last election to remove subsidy are now reversing themselves without even regretting their earlier display of ignorance and lack of compassion for the people.”

He specifically criticised Atiku for changing his position without acknowledging his previous advocacy for subsidy removal.

“Atiku’s recantation on subsidy removal without an apology is dishonesty. If you change your position because circumstances or evidence have changed, tell Nigerians why you changed. There is nothing wrong with changing your mind. What is wrong is pretending that you never held the position in the first place.”

He said Atiku, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Peter Obi all campaigned on subsidy removal during the 2023 presidential election, while he, Omoyele Sowore and Prince Adewole Adebayo opposed the policy.

Olawepo-Hashim, however, said the debate should move beyond the simplistic argument that every subsidy is wasteful and instead focus on designing a transparent and sustainable system that protects citizens and productive economic activity.

He argued that subsidies can be deployed strategically to reduce production costs, protect purchasing power, support industrial activity and prevent sudden economic shocks. He said there are subsidies in America and Europe, adding that “only ignorant and wicked people make blanket arguments against subsidy.”

“Our position is simple: restore subsidy on petroleum products and other strategic products where necessary, but do it intelligently. Subsidy should be targeted at protecting the Nigerian economy and Nigerian people, not at enriching intermediaries.”

He proposed that any future subsidy regime should be built around targeting, transparency, measurable economic outcomes and strict accountability, rather than open-ended payments to importers or politically connected intermediaries.

According to him, “our own government would identify strategic products and sectors where price shocks have economy-wide consequences, establish clear eligibility criteria, publish the fiscal cost and beneficiaries, and periodically assess whether the intervention is delivering measurable economic benefits.”

He also assured that stronger domestic production would be an essential component of a sustainable subsidy policy.

“The objective would be to use subsidy as a bridge to greater domestic productive capacity, not as a permanent excuse for dependence on imports.”

Olawepo-Hashim also criticised sections of the media for failing to sufficiently scrutinise changing political positions.

He alleged that politicians with greater access to media platforms could appropriate ideas previously advanced by less powerful political actors and subsequently present them as their own.

“They lack originality, and their fans in the media never take them to task.

“Instead, they promote these corrupt and dishonest politicians as major candidates.”

He added that “only God knows how many of our ideas they would pirate before the election and use their big megaphone to amplify.”

Olawepo-Hashim said the 2027 presidential election should be defined by competing ideas and credible economic programmes rather than political imitation.

“Nigeria needs originality, courage and compassion in leadership. We cannot continue recycling people because they have the biggest megaphone. We must begin to ask who said what first, who stood by the people when it was difficult, and who has a credible plan to rebuild the economy.”

He reaffirmed his commitment to an economic programme focused on affordable energy, strategic market repositioning as a reliable supplier of energy to the world, protection of domestic productive capacity, industrialisation, job creation, stronger purchasing power and strategic government intervention in critical sectors.

“The Nigerian people are not laboratory animals for politicians to experiment on and then return to them during election season with a new script. We must learn from our mistakes, tell the truth about them and build a better economic future,” Olawepo-Hashim said.