Presidential aide Olusegun Dada has slammed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for demanding cheap petrol without explaining how to achieve such in Nigeria.
Dada recalled that for years, Nigeria spent trillions on petrol subsidy while borrowing to fund government. He said President Bola Tinubu's administration ended the system because it had become fiscally unsustainable.
"Now Alhaji Atiku wants government intervention to bring petrol prices down. Fine. With which money?
"How much will it cost? For how long? And how do we prevent Nigeria from returning to the same subsidy regime that created the problem in the first place?
"It is easy to demand cheaper petrol like Alhaji is doing. But it is also harder to explain how to achieve it sustainably.
"Palliatives were never presented as the solution. They are a bridge while structural reforms take effect and vulnerable Nigerians are protected," he said.
Tinubu's aide said the real solution is increased domestic production, local refining, cheaper energy, better infrastructure, investment and a productive economy that does not depend permanently on government subsidies.
"You cannot consume your way out of poverty. You have to produce your way out of it. The President Tinubu administration inherited deep structural problems and chose to confront them rather than postpone them for another administration," he said.
Dada said the reforms have been difficult, but reversing them simply because they are difficult is not economic policy; it is politics.
He noted that the money saved from not paying subsidies has been diverted into more meaningful things, with increased allocation across the three tiers of government and solid infrastructure projects underway across different parts of the country.
He said the President will continue to listen to sensible ideas from anywhere, but made it clear that Nigeria cannot return to the same policies that created the hole we are now trying to climb out of.
"Nigerians deserve solutions, not just press conferences. And if Atiku’s solution to every economic challenge is simply for the government to make everything cheaper, perhaps the next press conference should come with the bill attached," he said.
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