Oshiomhole made the disclosure during an interview with TVC News. While commenting on Atiku’s reported current position on fuel subsidies ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Senator Adams Oshiomhole has recalled his past discussions with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over fuel subsidies, saying Atiku had previously explained to him why the policy needed to be scrapped because of the waste he believed it created.
The former Edo State governor and ex-president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said his disagreement with Atiku over the issue goes back to the period when Atiku served as vice president. According to Oshiomhole, Atiku had at the time made a case for ending fuel subsidies and explained what he regarded as the financial waste associated with continuing the policy.
Oshiomhole said, however, that he did not share Atiku’s position at the time. He maintained that despite the explanation from the then vice president, he and other government officials held different views on the matter.
The senator has now raised questions about Atiku’s reported position on the issue, particularly claims that the former vice president would restore fuel subsidies if elected president in 2027. Oshiomhole argued that Atiku’s reported current stance appears different from the position he remembers the former vice president taking in the past.
He questioned why Atiku would now support a policy he had previously argued should be discontinued. The senator also referred to Atiku’s position during the 2023 presidential election, saying the former vice president had promised to privatise the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). Oshiomhole questioned how such privatisation would work alongside any attempt by a government to determine how private owners of the company would sell petroleum products.
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