By Opeyemi Adelakun
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has argued that Nigerians cannot be left to bear the full impact of market-driven fuel prices, promising to subsidise crude oil production if it takes power in 2027.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, stated this on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he outlined the party’s position on fuel subsidy.
According to Abdullahi, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate, believes government intervention remains necessary to ease the pressure of high fuel prices on Nigerians.
“The most important point is that, the ADC and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar are saying that Nigerians are too poor to be left to market forces. We cannot have people so poor and leave them without subsidy. So, we (ADC) are going to subsidise production,” he said.
Abdullahi said the proposed policy would focus on production rather than leaving consumers entirely exposed to prevailing market conditions.
He argued that Nigeria’s position as an oil-producing nation should enable the government to explore ways of reducing crude oil production costs and making fuel cheaper.
“You can ask us, where would the crude oil come from? We are an oil producing country. Whatever we need to do to subsidise the production of crude and deliver cheaper fuel to Nigerians, we are going to do it,” he stated.
To reinforce the party’s position, Abdullahi likened economic intervention to a country’s responsibility to defend its citizens during wartime, insisting that public welfare should remain central to government decisions.
“When your country is at war, you do not begin to talk about the price of guns and the price of bullets, you defend your country by all means necessary so ADC and Atiku Abubakar are saying, we will defend the people by all means necessary,” he added.
He further argued that governments should reassess policies that do not deliver improvements in living standards, welfare and security.
“Anything that you do as a government, any policy option that you choose as a government that does not improve the well-being and the security, and the welfare of the people, has to be reconsidered,” Abdullahi said.
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