Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has said he will not tolerate any form of criminality if elected President in 2027.
NewsWatch Nigeria reports that the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) chieftain stated this while speaking on Trust TV on Wednesday, where he again criticised Nigeria’s fuel subsidy regime, describing it as an organised crime against the country.
The former Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general election said the figures often presented as Nigeria’s fuel consumption were not believable, insisting that available evidence showed that the country could not be consuming the volume of petrol being claimed.
According to Obi, the subsidy system created room for massive abuse and fraud, adding that such practices would have no place under his administration if he becomes President.
He said, “Subsidy is organised crime and I won’t allow any form of criminality as the President of Nigeria. The amount of fuel they say we consume cannot be consumed by this country, there’s empirical evidence.”
Obi compared Nigeria’s fuel consumption claims with those of Pakistan, arguing that both countries share some similarities in size and population, yet Pakistan reportedly consumes far less fuel than Nigeria.
He added, “We are about the same as Pakistan; they have more roads, and we probably have the same number of vehicles, or they have even more, yet their fuel consumption is a third of ours, so who is drinking the balance?”
NewsWatch Nigeria reports that during the 2023 presidential election, Obi and other major presidential candidates had promised to remove fuel subsidy if elected, arguing that the system was no longer sustainable.
President Bola Tinubu, who won the election, announced the immediate removal of fuel subsidy during his inauguration at Eagle Square in Abuja on May 29, 2023.
The decision triggered a sharp rise in petrol prices and transport costs across the country, with many Nigerians still grappling with the economic impact of the policy.
Obi, however, has continued to maintain that beyond subsidy removal, the government must investigate the figures around fuel consumption and block all forms of leakages linked to the subsidy system.
