By Musa Bakare
As Nigeria approaches the 2027 presidential election, the debate over fuel subsidy has become one of the most important tests of political and economic vision.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar proposal to restore fuel subsidy may sound attractive to some people, but Nigerians must look beyond the immediate appeal and consider the enormous cost to the nation.
Fuel subsidy does not make petrol genuinely cheap; it transfers the cost from the pump to the government and ultimately to the Nigerian people.
For years, enormous public resources were consumed by subsidy while critical sectors remained underfunded.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to remove the subsidy undoubtedly confronted a problem that successive governments had struggled to resolve.
The question today is not whether reform is comfortable, but whether Nigeria can afford to return to a system that placed enormous pressure on public finances.
If subsidy returns as being canvassed by Abubakar Atiku, what happens to the resources required for salaries, student loans, universities, infrastructure, security and other national priorities?
What happens to the investment environment necessary for domestic refining and the growth of the Dangote Refinery for example ?
What happens to efforts to strengthen the naira and build stronger foreign reserves?
These are questions Nigerians must ask before embracing election year promises.
Nigeria cannot continually abandon difficult reforms simply because they cause short term pain.
The solution to the hardship associated with subsidy removal as being handled by President Tinubu is, vigorously improve the reforms, protect vulnerable citizens and ensure that government revenue is translated into tangible benefits not to return to the old system.
The administration has pursued major reforms in fuel subsidy, foreign exchange, infrastructure and security.
Nigerians can today point to massive investments in roads, railways, domestic refining and the strengthening of the nation’s security architecture.
The reforms are beginning to produce measurable improvements in the lives of ordinary Nigerians. As noted by President Tinubu, Nigerians deserve lower inflation, better purchasing power, more jobs, stronger public services and greater economic opportunities.
Reform will ultimately deliver prosperity.
The 2027 election will be decided by Nigerian voters, and nobody can legitimately predetermine its outcome. But President Tinubu have something every incumbent ultimately defend: a record.
Atiku and other opposition candidates should do more than criticise and weaponized the hardships faced by Nigerians.
They must explain precisely how their alternative policies will be financed and how they will avoid recreating the fiscal problems that made subsidy unsustainable in the first place.
The choice before Nigerians is therefore bigger than the price of petrol. It is a choice between reform and reversal, between confronting structural problems and postponing them again.
Nigeria cannot build a prosperous future by repeatedly returning to the failed policies of the past.
The removal of subsidy should stop being portrayed as punishment for Nigerians, but as the beginning of a difficult transition toward a more productive and financially sustainable economy.
President Tinubu has chosen the harder road. His responsibility is ensuring that the sacrifices Nigerians are making translate into visible improvements in their lives.
As the reforms continue to deliver stronger economic stability, increased investment, improved infrastructure and greater national prosperity, APC and President Tinubu have a powerful argument for continuity in 2027.
Nigeria must not return to the past simply because the future requires sacrifice.
The country must stay the course with President Tinubu, strengthen the reforms, protect the vulnerable and build an economy that can stand on its own without perpetual fuel subsidy.
Actions have consequences. So do reversals. Nigeria must choose wisely.
– Musa Asiru Bakare, a Political analyst, writes from Lokoja, Kogi State
