ABUJA, Nigeria (ChatnewsTV) — Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), criticized President Bola Tinubu on Thursday for his administration’s handling of fuel subsidy management, which he said is responsible for Nigeria’s deepening economic crisis.
Atiku’s remarks came in response to the National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) latest hike in the pump price of petrol. The price surged from ₦897 per liter to ₦1,030 in Abuja, and from ₦855 to ₦998 in Lagos, intensifying concerns over inflation and economic hardship.
In a statement posted on X, Atiku decried Tinubu’s apparent inaction in addressing the worsening situation. “The haphazard and disingenuous approach of the current administration to fuel subsidy management has been the reason we are in this current economic crisis in the country,” he wrote.
Atiku warned that without decisive intervention, the country’s inflation rate would continue to spiral, worsening the material conditions of millions of Nigerians. “As things stand, there will be no let-up in the escalating inflation rate, which is drowning the material well-being of Nigerians,” he added.
The former vice president also criticized what he called Tinubu’s indifference to the growing economic strain on citizens. “It is even more worrying that T-pain [a reference to Tinubu] is undisturbed by the hardship in the country,” Atiku said.
The rise in fuel prices comes amid increasing frustration over inflation, high living costs, and declining purchasing power in Nigeria, exacerbating the country’s economic challenges under Tinubu’s administration.
