The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of diverting public funds through petrol subsidy.
He said this was why his government has refused to reveal how much is being spent on subsidy.
Atiku said this in a statement issued Thursday by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe stated this whike reacting to a statement from the presidency.
The former Vice President said the clandestine subsidy regime was one of the reasons investments in the oil sector had refused to come in.
He said, “Tinubu has brought the shady nature of running Lagos to the federal level. He claims subsidy is gone but his Special Adviser on Energy, Olu Verheijen, says they are intervening from time to time while his Finance Minister, Wale Edun, described subsidy removal as an ‘ongoing process’.
Atiku noted that a document authored by the Edun revealing how much subsidy was being paid was now being disowned by the very authors of the document.
He recalled that both the World Bank and the IMF have revealed in separate reports that Nigeria was still paying petrol subsidies, but the Tinubu government refused to come clean.
Atiku added: “ Even a senior member of the APC had revealed that subsidy was beyond paid.
“For a man who claims to be on a mission to attract foreign direct investment, it is ironic that he cannot see that his policy flip flops and lies are capable of dissuading investors.
“He must come clean on this subsidy issue since he doubles as petroleum minister. The Tinubu administration should be courageous enough to own their policies and outcome with their full chest and responsible enough to be accountable for their actions to Nigerians.”
The former vice president said this denial lends credence that money meant for the Federation Account, which ought to be shared to states and local governments, is being diverted without any form of accountability whatsoever.
Atiku, therefore, called on the National Assembly to probe the issue rather than focusing on frivolous issues.
“The National Assembly needs to be alive to its responsibilities, especially in the area of oversight. Posterity will not be kind to members of the National Assembly if they continue to look the other way while daylight robbery is taking place,” he insisted.