Subsidy Row: ADC Chides Presidency Over Alleged N19.1trn Bill for Atiku’s Alternative Fuel Plan

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has strongly rebuked the Tinubu-led Presidency over its claims that implementing former Vice President Atiku Abubakar's proposed fuel subsidy regime would cost the nation a staggering N19.1 trillion. In an authoritative statement, the opposition party dismissed the federal government's calculations as speculative, manipulative, and deliberately inflated to scare the public into submission.

According to reports, the Presidency had argued that Atiku's alternative economic plan—which suggests a more gradual, welfare-supported transition away from petrol subsidies—would drain the federation account of N19.1 trillion annually. The administration claimed that returning to any form of price stabilization under the current global energy market dynamics would instantly plunge the country into unprecedented fiscal insolvency.

However, the ADC has countered this narrative, asserting that the presidency is relying on "voodoo economics" to justify the severe hardship inflicted on Nigerians by the sudden and unhedged removal of the fuel subsidy. The party argues that the administration's math is fundamentally flawed and designed to shield the inefficiencies and alleged corruption still plaguing the state-run petroleum sector.