Presidential candidate of the Accord Party, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has described former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the “father of subsidy removal” in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, accusing him of dishonesty for reversing his position on fuel subsidy removal without apologising to Nigerians.
Hashim, who has consistently opposed the removal of petroleum subsidy, reiterated his position during a recent interview on Trust TV, where he called for the restoration of subsidy on petroleum products and other strategically important goods, but with stronger targeting, transparency and accountability.
He questioned the sincerity of politicians who supported subsidy removal during the 2023 presidential election but have now changed their positions without acknowledging their earlier stance.
“Some candidates who campaigned in the last election to remove subsidy are now reversing themselves without even regretting their earlier display of ignorance and lack of compassion for the people,” he said.
Hashim specifically criticised Atiku, saying a change of position is acceptable when circumstances or evidence change, but politicians should be honest enough to explain the reason for such changes.
“Atiku’s recant on subsidy removal without an apology is dishonesty. If you change your position because circumstances or evidence have changed, tell Nigerians why you changed. There is nothing wrong with changing your mind. What is wrong is pretending that you never held the position in the first place,” he said.
According to Hashim, Atiku, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Peter Obi all campaigned on subsidy removal in the 2023 presidential election, while he, Omoyele Sowore and Prince Adewole Adebayo opposed the policy.
He further argued that Atiku’s advocacy for subsidy removal predates the Tinubu administration, recalling his role as Vice President during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“The truth of the matter is that Atiku, before Tinubu, on the national political scene, has been the father of the idea of subsidy removal and wholesale privatisation in this republic, he and his so-called economic team,” Hashim said.
Hashim recalled that in 1999, when Atiku served as Vice President and headed the government’s economic team, the Obasanjo administration increased petroleum product prices and removed subsidy.
He said he and other PDP officials publicly opposed the decision, adding that they jointly addressed a press conference condemning the increase and the subsidy removal.
According to him, the National Assembly subsequently passed resolutions against the policy, forcing the executive to reverse its decision.
“We opposed subsidy removal when it was politically inconvenient to do so. We did not suddenly discover the suffering of Nigerians because another election is approaching,” he said.
