Kwankwaso says NDC may consider fuel subsidy if elected

Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso says the Nigeria Democratic Congress would consider fuel-subsidy measures to reduce petrol prices if it wins Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election, describing energy costs as too high. The proposal remains conditional, and he did not specify how any subsidy would work or be funded. Kwankwaso, the party’s vice-presidential candidate, made the remarks during an interview on Politics Today on Thursday, October 15. He said the NDC would take whatever steps it considered necessary to ease energy costs, including possible fuel-subsidy intervention. The party’s presidential candidate is Peter Obi. Kwankwaso said the party had examined the effects of the subsidy’s removal in May 2023 and the economic pressures that followed. He argued that corruption and irregularities in the petroleum industry should also be addressed alongside any subsidy approach. His comments describe a possible policy position, rather than a detailed or formally costed plan. The federal government removed the petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023, when President Bola Tinubu announced the decision at his inauguration. Kwankwaso said Nigerians had not recovered from the resulting economic shock. He has...