The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has stated that his administration will remove the fuel subsidy if elected to office in 2027.
The former Anambra State governor stated this on Tuesday during an interview with the BBC.
President Bola Tinubu had announced the removal of the fuel subsidy during his swearing-in on May 29, 2023.
Despite calls from top opposition figures like Obi and former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, the Presidency has maintained that the subsidy removal was in the nation’s best interest.
In his remarks on the subsidy regime, Obi said, “From day one, I’ve talked about subsidy. I talked about corruption; corruption is the problem of subsidy.”
When asked if he would bring back the subsidy regime, he affirmed, but insisted that he would fight off the purported corruption associated with it.
“Yes. But remember, I have qualified it, not with the corruption that’s associated with it. I’ll remove the corruption and retain the subsidy.”
When asked how he would tackle corruption, the NDC presidential candidate noted, “If you are not stealing, if you are not involved, your wife and family are not involved, you reduce it by 50 per cent.”
He also stated that rather than stepping down for any candidate if the opposition parties were to unite and pick a consensus candidate, Obi said, “We don’t need to step down. We need to do the right thing.”
The interviewer noted that late President Muhammadu Buhari also took a stand against corruption, as he made efforts to keep his family away from delving into government-related matters.
“Nigerians should not decide with that,” Obi stated, adding, “He was not in charge. The difference is that I’ll be in charge,” he stated, on the heels of allegations that some government officials who served under the Buhari administration are still under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
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