Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is talking like someone with intent to deceive. But Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister, thinks differently; he believes the former Vice-president is a confused man.
In recent interview Atiku promised he would remove fuel subsidy if he was elected president in 2027. Reacting to the comments while addressing newsmen in Abuja early today, Wike remembered the former VP’s stance on the issue.
When Atiku was running for presidency in 2022 he promised to remove the money pit called fuel subsidy. Today, he is saying the opposite, Wike reminded Nigerians.
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“Atiku is confused. He said in 2022 that he was going to remove the subsidy, now in 2026 he wants to restore fuel subsidy. Are you going back to the fraud?” the FCT minister said.
Every right thinking president had wanted to remove fuel subsidy in the past, with former President Goodluck Jonathan giving it most serious thought.
But it was President Bola Tinubu who, on May 29, 2023, cancelled it. Almost immediately, the policy began to bite the economy like a mad dog. The following hardship has since given the subsidy removal some evil tag while millions of suffering people daily curse their president.
Now, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is acting like a shameless opportunist, trying to weave clever campaign rhetorics around fuel subsidy removal as hotbed for public resentments. But Wike has caught him on behalf of the APC.
Why should the people believe Atiku?
“We need to be consistent in what we say to our people. That is what leadership is,” Wike continued and added that “leadership is not you coming out in the morning to say a thing and come back in the afternoon to say a different thing”.