Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu’s government of looting Nigeria’s treasury and plunging Nigerians into poverty by removing the petrol subsidy.

Mr Abubakar, who contested but lost to Mr Tinubu in 2023, accused Mr Tinubu of stealing the election and the economy.

“We are competing with thieves. They have stolen the election. Now they have stolen the economy. They have stolen everything,” Mr Abubakar alleged.

Mr Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress’ flag bearer for the 2027 presidential election, made the statement at his Asokoro residence in Abuja on Tuesday while hosting ADC politicians from Osun.

“The removal of subsidy has driven more Nigerians into poverty than at any other time in the history of this country,” Mr Abubakar said. “On the question of subsidy, my position has not changed and will not change: I will restore it! A nation as blessed as ours has no business abandoning its citizens to hardship. Nigeria is rich enough to look after her own.”

The presidency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.

The former vice-president added, “The wealth of a nation is not measured by how much government collects, but by how much the money in the pockets of its people can buy. The fundamental responsibility of the government is the welfare of the citizens.”

However, last month, the presidency noted that “Atiku, along with his former wife Jennifer Douglas, was one of the subjects of an elaborate US Senate investigation, ‘Keeping Foreign Corruption Out of the United States: Four Case Histories’.”

According to the presidency, the report, chaired by Senator Carl Levin, was released in February 2010.

“It documented how Atiku used offshore companies to bring suspect funds, including bribes from multinationals, running into millions of dollars, into the United States,” the presidency stated. “A man with such a dismal record as a public servant certainly has no business asking for our votes. Indeed, if Atiku Abubakar were a Chinese, he would be rotting away in jail for his crimes against the Nigerian people.”