Atiku Fires Back at Tinubu, Lists Fuel Prices in Oil-Rich Countries
- Atiku Abubakar's aide, Phrank Shaibu, responded to President Tinubu's statement attacking Atiku's economic proposals without naming him
- Shaibu compared Nigeria's petrol price of roughly ₦1,400 per litre to Saudi Arabia's ₦778 and Libya's ₦34, calling it an affordability scandal
- Atiku's camp demanded Tinubu reconcile ₦30 trillion in Federation Account figures and explain ₦34 trillion in duty exemption approvals
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Phrank Shaibu, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, released a strongly worded statement on September 1, 2026, hitting back at President Bola Tinubu after Tinubu devoted a large portion of a recent statement to attacking Atiku's economic position without mentioning him by name.
Shaibu said Tinubu's refusal to name Atiku did not change the fact that the statement was a direct response to the former vice president's push to reduce fuel costs for ordinary Nigerians.
Source: Twitter
Nigeria's petrol price compared to other oil producers
The statement drew a sharp comparison between what Nigerians pay at the pump and the pump prices in other oil-producing countries. According to Shaibu, Saudi Arabia sells petrol at about ₦778 per litre, Kuwait at around ₦872, Algeria at about ₦475, Angola at about ₦441, and the United Arab Emirates below Nigeria's roughly ₦1,400 per litre, despite average incomes in the UAE being vastly higher than Nigeria's.
The statement singled out Libya as the starkest comparison. "A country battered by years of political instability still sells petrol at roughly ₦34 per litre and ranks around 115th globally in human development. Nigeria sells petrol at roughly ₦1,400 per litre and ranks around 164th," Shaibu wrote.
He said a worker earning the ₦70,000 statutory minimum wage would need ₦56,000 to buy 40 litres of petrol, consuming 80 per cent of an entire month's pay before spending on food, rent, school fees, or medical care.
Tinubu challenged on ₦15.8trn and subsidy savings
Shaibu questioned what ordinary Nigerian households received in exchange for more than three years of hardship following the removal of the fuel subsidy. He said Tinubu's government had reported that subsidy removal mobilised roughly ₦15.8 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025, yet the tangible benefit to average families remained unclear.
He also demanded full transparency around nearly ₦30 trillion in Federation Account revenues, deductions, and transfers, as well as Import Duty Exemption Certificate approvals covering about ₦34 trillion worth of imports in 2025, asking who benefited and on what legal basis.
On Tinubu's recent promise to deliver cheaper transportation and food relief "in the next few weeks," Shaibu was direct: "Why did Nigerians have to suffer for more than three years before your government discovered that economic growth must reach 'the dining table and the pocket'?"
Shaibu described Atiku's Economic Recovery Plan as a structured approach that would reduce fuel costs at source through a capped, transparently budgeted, and independently audited framework tied to Nigerian crude supplied for domestic refining, rather than a round of pre-election relief payments.
He closed by saying Atiku would continue engaging Nigerians directly on the cost-of-living crisis, and that whenever Tinubu misrepresented Atiku's proposals, he would respond on the record.
Atiku dismisses age concerns
Legit.ng earlier reported that Atiku Abubakar addressed questions about his age in a BBC Hausa interview published on Friday, pushing back against critics who raised concerns.
The ADC presidential candidate challenged the interviewer's premise by asking whether he appeared old enough to warrant the question.
Atiku also responded to claims that he had become a stumbling block to opposition coalition efforts ahead of the 2027 election.
Source: Legit.ng
