“Anybody Saying He Will Bring Back Fuel Subsidy Is Lying To Nigerians” — APC Campaign DG Yari Replies Atiku

The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, has said anyone promising to restore fuel subsidy is deceiving Nigerians.

Yari, former Governor of Zamfara State, said there was no provision for subsidy in the 2023 budget passed by the National Assembly in March, before President Bola Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023.

“Before Asiwaju came in in 2023, there was no budget for subsidy… How is it going to run? Definitely, whoever is there, the first thing he is going to do… Anybody who is deceiving Nigerians to say I’m going to bring this thing back, it’s lying,” Yari said in a video.

He described the subsidy regime as a N20 trillion yearly drain with unverified consumption figures.

“Nobody can tell you exactly how much liters we need, what are the quantity per day. As Chairman Governors’ Forum, we challenged NNPC for 4 years to tell us the exact consumption. Nobody knows the numbers! They fabricate the numbers and send it, and we are paying the numbers. When we push harder, they say we are giving subsidy for West Africa,” he said.

On campaign strategy, Yari said APC will run on facts and figures of achievements in economy, infrastructure and security, not name-calling.

“We are on the right path. By God’s grace, we have the data. This is what we are going to do in our campaign: facts and figures. What we achieve and what we intend to do. We don’t call any name,” he said.

He said over N2 trillion is spent monthly on security — arms, ammunition and gadgets — and equipment now in states surpasses what was available in entire Northern Nigeria in the past.

“Bola Ahmed Asiwaju is doing his best, and we believe he is the right man for this job again,” Yari added.