African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has said he would restore fuel subsidy if he wins the 2027 presidential election, arguing that the Federal Government never completely ended the policy
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Tuesday, Sowore said the government had only changed the terminology used to describe the subsidy while continuing to support petrol prices.
He also claimed that the government was indirectly subsidising the naira through measures aimed at maintaining the currency’s value against the US dollar.
According to Sowore, the government’s interventions in the foreign exchange market amount to a form of subsidy, although this is not openly acknowledged.
He further argued that subsidy itself should not automatically be viewed as a bad policy, saying the bigger issue is how government resources are distributed. In his view, wealthy individuals and businesses currently benefit more from government incentives, including customs waivers, than ordinary Nigerians.
Sowore also blamed the removal of fuel subsidy for worsening economic hardship, arguing that the policy contributed to the decline in the value of the naira and increased pressure on households.
The AAC candidate said his proposed government would take a different approach to managing the economy, with a focus on reversing policies he believes have allowed poverty to become widespread.
He said:
“Absolutely.
“In the first place, they are still paying subsidy. They’re just changing the name of what they call it.
“They are subsidising not only petrol, because they don’t have enough and they can’t produce locally. They’re also subsidising the Naira.
“That’s one thing they will never tell you. The reason the Naira is at a certain rate to a dollar is because it’s been quietly and secretly subsidised.
“There’s no country in the world that don’t subsidise their poor.
“In fact, the people that get the most subsidy in Nigeria is not the poor, it’s the rich.”
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