The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has rejected former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s promise to restore fuel subsidy if elected president in 2027, describing the proposal as a political response to the economic hardship facing Nigerians.
NANS President, Comr. Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, stated this in a statement on Wednesday, arguing that bringing back the subsidy without addressing the structural problems that made it unsustainable would amount to reversing a difficult but necessary economic reform.
Afeez acknowledged that the removal of subsidy had increased the cost of fuel, transportation and food, but maintained that the policy had also created fiscal space for government and removed what he described as a major distortion in the economy.
He said: “Every sane and patriotic citizen who is conversant with our nation’s economy will agree with me that the removal of the fuel subsidy was a difficult but necessary economic reform aimed at ending an increasingly unsustainable system that consumed trillions of naira, benefited higher fuel consumers disproportionately, encouraged smuggling, and constrained the government’s ability to invest in critical sectors.”
According to him, the more important question was whether the trillions of naira previously spent on petrol subsidy could have been better deployed to critical sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare and education.
While admitting that Nigerians had borne significant hardship since the reform, the NANS president said the success of subsidy removal should ultimately be measured by how effectively the savings were used to improve citizens’ welfare.
He urged government to channel the freed resources into education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture and other sectors capable of improving living conditions.
Afeez further warned that restoring subsidy without fixing the underlying weaknesses that made it unsustainable would only reproduce the problems associated with the old system.
“This is why calls or promises for the outright return of subsidy, without a clear structural framework for addressing the fundamental weaknesses that made the policy unsustainable in the first place, amount to little more than a political response to a genuine economic challenge,” he said.
NANS also challenged presidential aspirants to present concrete economic blueprints ahead of the 2027 election, saying Nigerians need policies that provide lasting solutions rather than temporary relief.
The students’ body said its opposition to Atiku’s proposal was not partisan, stressing that it had a responsibility to scrutinise policies and political promises in the national interest.
Afeez argued that Nigeria could not afford to return to a system in which huge public resources were spent on fuel subsidy while states struggled financially and critical infrastructure remained inadequate.
He therefore urged Atiku to reconsider his position and avoid supporting what NANS described as an unsustainable financial burden on the country.
He said: “Every aspirant willing to rule Nigeria and not run or, perhaps, ruin her must come to national debates with clear and sustainable policies that do not just address the immediate needs or comfort of our people, but rather, policies that best shape our country and can stand the test of time.”
