Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s plan to restore fuel subsidy is for local production, not imported petroleum products, his aide, Phrank Shuaibu, clarified. President Bola Tinubu, in a swift reaction, berated Mr Abubakar for promising to restore fuel subsidy if elected president in 2027.

Mr Abubakar, in an interview with journalists on Wednesday, said that although he does not oppose subsidy removal, the money saved from the policy was stolen and not reinvested to improve citizens’ lives.

He earned further rebuke from the presidency.

“Atiku Abubakar: Your pronouncement that you will bring back fuel subsidy is drenched in hypocrisy and deceit. It is an unpardonable manipulation of the public psyche, designed to hoodwink unsuspecting Nigerians into voting for you,” presidential spokesman Sunday Dare said on Thursday. “The ongoing recovery across various sectors of our national life annoys you, and will be halted if this thinking of yours is implemented.”

Responding to Mr Dare, Mr Abubakar’s aide described the presidential spokesman’s comment as “drenched in ignorance, deceit and the usual APC-grade propaganda”.

Mr Shuaibu noted that his principal’s idea is to “subsidise Nigerian fuel production, not imported fuel—capped, audited and transparent”.

Mr Shuaibu further dismissed President Bola Tinubu’s economic recovery claim as “propaganda”.

He said, “And this ‘ongoing recovery’, is it the one Nigerians need binoculars to see? Anyway, since you’ve suddenly found your voice, tell Nigerians what happened to their ₦30 trillion. Propaganda is not economics. And stupidity is not an argument.

“You see this election, we will prosecute it using @officialABAT’s own words, his own figures and his own performance in office. Nothing more. So, if you’re not equipped for intellectual discourse, just fade. This one no be for noise-makers.”