By: Ismaeel Aleem
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that a recent SBM Intelligence survey confirms Nigerians have overwhelmingly rejected President Bola Tinubu’s fuel subsidy removal and are demanding immediate relief from the rising cost of living.
In a statement issued on 22 September 2026 by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the finding that 67.4 per cent of respondents want the petrol subsidy restored represents “a damning public verdict on an administration that removed subsidy without a plan and condemned millions of Nigerians to unprecedented hardship.”
He described the figure as more than an economic statistic, arguing it reflected a growing majority who had rejected what he called Tinubu’s “punishing economic philosophy” in favour of a government that protects citizens rather than abandoning them to market forces.
“This survey is no longer merely about economic policy. It has become a democratic question. When an overwhelming majority of Nigerians declare that a government policy is destroying their lives, responsible leadership must listen,” Atiku said.
The former vice president noted that petrol had become the second-most cited national problem and the administration’s worst-rated policy issue, scoring 1.69 out of four. He said the survey captured the collective hardship of families struggling to afford food, workers whose salaries were consumed by transport costs, farmers unable to move produce, and businesses collapsing under fuel and energy expenses.
Atiku claimed that for three and a half years Nigerians had suffered under what he termed Tinubu’s “reckless ‘subsidy is gone’ experiment,” which he said had driven up transport and food prices, destroyed purchasing power and pushed millions deeper into poverty.
The survey was particularly revealing, he added, because 32.4 per cent of rural respondents identified petrol as their primary concern, compared with 11.7 per cent in urban areas. Petrol was also the leading concern in the Southwest (30.5 per cent) and the South-South (29.1 per cent), evidence, he argued, that the impact cut across geography, ethnicity and political affiliation.
Atiku accused the president of removing the subsidy with a slogan rather than a strategy, without credible plans for domestic refining, mass transportation, wage protection or support for small businesses. He said the administration could no longer hide behind statistics, propaganda or claims about its CNG programme while Nigerians continued to face high petrol and transport costs.
“Nigerians do not eat GDP figures. A mother cannot take FAAC allocations to the market. A worker cannot fuel his vehicle with presidential promises. Any economic reform that does not improve the lives of the people has failed,” he said.
He contrasted his own approach with Tinubu’s, stating that government has a duty to protect people, strengthen domestic production and shield vulnerable families from economic shocks. If elected, Atiku said, from 29 May 2027 he would introduce a transparent production subsidy limited to petroleum products refined in Nigeria and sold to Nigerians. Imports would not qualify. The programme would have a fixed spending limit, National Assembly approval and independent audits, aimed at lowering fuel prices, boosting domestic refining, creating jobs and restoring purchasing power.
He called on President Tinubu to provide immediate relief in his remaining months in office rather than treating Nigerians’ suffering as an unavoidable price of reform.
“The people have spoken. The 67.4 per cent is a vote against Tinubu’s cruelty and a mandate for Atiku’s alternative. Tinubu made life expensive. Atiku will make life affordable again,” the statement concluded.