The NDC candidate says he will remove corruption and retain subsidy, as his running mate Kwankwaso backs a different version of it for 2027
Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi has promised to restore the petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027, saying corruption, not the subsidy itself, was the problem with the scheme.
This pledge is a change from his 2023 campaign, when he backed removing the subsidy and redirecting the savings to education, health and infrastructure.
Obi made the promise on Tuesday in an interview with the BBC.
“From day one, I’ve talked about subsidy,” he said. “I talked about corruption; corruption is the problem of subsidy.”
What Obi said about the subsidy on BBC
Asked directly whether he would bring the subsidy back, Obi answered
“Yes.” He said he had attached a condition to it.
“I’ll remove the corruption and retain the subsidy,” he said.
He said his anti-corruption approach would start with the conduct of the president and the president’s family. If neither is involved in stealing, he said, “you reduce it by 50 per cent.”
Asked about the anti-corruption record of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, who also campaigned against graft, Obi said Nigerians should not judge him by that.
“The difference is that I’ll be in charge,” he said.
Obi also rejected suggestions that he should step down for another opposition candidate if the parties agree on a consensus candidate in 2027. “We don’t need to step down. We need to do the right thing,” he said.
Kwankwaso’s subsidy plan for the NDC
Obi’s pledge follows remarks by his running mate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who said in September that an NDC government would reintroduce subsidy in a different form.
Speaking on Arise TV, the former Kano State governor said more investment in refineries and domestic petroleum production would make petrol available at a reasonable price. Asked whether the NDC would struggle in the North-West, where support for a return to subsidy is strong, he said, “No, no, no. Look, we are bringing subsidy in our own way.”
He also criticised how the Tinubu administration removed the subsidy shortly after taking office, saying the policy was carried out without enough thought for its effects.
There are reports that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the ADC presidential candidate, has also proposed restoring the subsidy. He argues that the Tinubu administration has not accounted for the money saved from its removal.
Obi’s earlier subsidy position
TheCable reports that Obi reiterated support for removing the subsidy in August. At a town hall for the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket in Sokoto in late September, he said corruption was Nigeria’s main challenge. By removing it, he said, “we will bring back subsidy.”
Reuters reported in January 2023 that his campaign manifesto promised to reform costly subsidies without naming fuel subsidy specifically.
Tinubu’s subsidy removal remains a campaign issue
President Bola Tinubu declared “fuel subsidy is gone” at his inauguration on 29 May 2023. He said the savings would go to infrastructure, education, healthcare and job creation.
The policy became one of the administration’s most contentious decisions. The Presidency has maintained that removal was necessary to protect the economy, while opposition figures, including Obi and Atiku, have criticised aspects of how it was carried out.
With the 2027 election approaching, the subsidy debate is expected to stay a major campaign issue. Opposition parties are still weighing whether to reverse the policy, change it, or replace it with measures that lower petrol prices through more domestic refining and production.
