Atiku supports subsidy removal, but faults Tinubu on approach for not providing palliatives first

The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on Saturday, supported the removal of subsidy on petrol by President Bola Tinubu, but faulted the president’s approach to the policy without first providing palliatives for Nigerian citizens.
Atiku addressing PDP officials in the last general elections in Bauchi State on Saturday, disclosed that he was the chairman of committee that recommended the removal of subsidy from petrol during the PDP government. He said that the government was to completely remove subsidy after providing palliatives, saying that this is what the PDP government would have done.
According to former Vice President Atiku, “Between 1999 and 2007, the PDP government initiated the petroleum subsidy removal and I chaired the committee. We achieved subsidy removal in two phases but only after providing palliatives to those most affected by the subsidy removal.
“We have the experience as a party in government. That is what we would have done and not just announced subsidy removal without discussion with the affected sectors of the economy. I think Nigerians should appreciate what they have temporarily lost.”
President Tinubu, had on his inauguration, declared that “fuel subsidy is gone”. He noted that there is no provision for subsidy in the budget bequeathed to him.