Yilwatda: Atiku’s Subsidy Promise Will Lead to Cancellation of Students’ Loan, Return of Fuel Queues

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has said that the call by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to return the country to the old fuel subsidy regime will lead to cancellation of students’ loan and return of fuel queues.

Yilwatda, therefore, warned that such a move could reverse hard-won gains from the ongoing economic reforms.

He also cautioned that any attempt to reintroduce subsidy must be subjected to rigorous economic scrutiny to ensure that the country does not recreate the fiscal pressures of the past.

The chairman stated this in Abuja while receiving a delegation of critical economic stakeholders who visited him to discuss the state of the Nigerian economy, ongoing reforms and the prospects for sustainable economic growth.

Yilwatda in a statement issued Sunday by his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki noted that the debate over fuel subsidy should not be reduced to political rhetoric.

He added that it must be assessed against the experiences of the country under the previous regimes, particularly the enormous fiscal burden imposed on government and the consequences for states, workers, education and infrastructure development.

Yilwatda added: “The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to restore fuel subsidy raises fundamental questions about how such a policy would be financed and sustained without returning Nigeria to the cycle of fiscal pressures that characterised the previous arrangement.

“Subsidy may appear attractive because it promises cheaper petrol, but Nigerians must also ask the bigger question: who pays for the subsidy and what happens to the resources that government must divert to finance it?

“A policy cannot be judged only by its immediate benefit at the pump. We must examine its impact on government revenues, salaries, pensions, education, healthcare, infrastructure and the overall capacity of the government to meet its obligations to citizens.”

Yilwatda said before the current administration, several state governments faced serious difficulties meeting their salary obligations, with some unable to pay workers regularly and others resorting to partial salary payments.

He added that the removal of the subsidy and the resulting increase in federal allocations to states had significantly improved the fiscal position of many sub-national governments, enabling them to meet salary and pension obligations while also undertaking development projects.

The Chairman, therefore, also drew attention to the education sector, recalling the prolonged disruption of academic activities in Nigerian universities under the previous administration.

Yilwatda said Nigerians should be concerned about policies that could weaken the capacity of governments to finance education and other essential public services.

He noted: “A return to a fiscally unsustainable subsidy regime could have consequences far beyond the price of petrol. When government revenue is squeezed, the first victims are often the critical sectors that directly affect the welfare and future of our people,” he said.

On the new minimum wage, Yilwatda said the sustainability of improved workers’ wages must also be considered in the subsidy debate.

He explained that wage increases require a corresponding improvement in the capacity of both federal and state governments to meet their recurrent obligations.

According to him, The challenge is not merely to announce higher wages but to create an economic environment in which governments can consistently pay them without sacrificing investment in infrastructure, education, healthcare and other essential services.

He added that the current reform agenda was also opening up opportunities in areas that were previously constrained by Nigeria’s weak foreign-exchange and payment infrastructure.

Yilwatda cited the growing ability of Nigerians to use their locally issued bank cards for legitimate transactions abroad and the expansion of digital payment opportunities as examples of changes that are improving the country’s participation in the global digital economy.

He said this was particularly important for young Nigerians, content creators, freelancers and other digital entrepreneurs whose livelihoods increasingly depend on the ability to receive and make international payments.

Yilwatda added: “Our young people are no longer limited by geographical boundaries. A Nigerian content creator, software developer, consultant or freelancer can provide services to clients anywhere in the world. But that opportunity requires a financial and payment system capable of supporting the global digital economy.

“We must therefore be careful about policies that could undermine the progress being made in strengthening Nigeria’s financial and digital ecosystem.”

The Chairman also highlighted the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), describing it as an important intervention that has expanded access to tertiary education financing and reduced the immediate financial burden on many families.

He said sustainable financing for education was critical to ensuring that young Nigerians are not forced to abandon their studies because their parents cannot afford tuition and other educational expenses.

Yilwatda explained that the central issue in the subsidy debate should be how to build an economy capable of producing sustainable prosperity rather than one dependent on expensive government intervention.

He acknowledged the hardship that followed the removal of fuel subsidy and said the government must continue to strengthen measures that cushion the impact of reforms on vulnerable Nigerians.

“The hardship Nigerians have experienced is real, and government must continue to respond to it. But the answer cannot simply be to return to a system whose long-term fiscal implications created serious distortions in our economy.

“What Nigerians deserve is an economy that can sustainably finance good wages, quality education, healthcare, infrastructure and social protection without depending on an opaque and expensive subsidy system.”

The APC chairman said Nigerians are entitled to a robust debate on economic policy, but such debate must be anchored on facts, sustainability and the lessons of recent history.

He urged political leaders proposing a return to subsidy to provide Nigerians with clear answers on the cost, funding mechanism, duration and long-term sustainability of such a policy.

“Whenever anybody proposes a return to subsidy, Nigerians should ask: how much will it cost? Where will the money come from? What programmes will be sacrificed to finance it? And for how long can the government sustain it?

“These are legitimate questions that must be answered before the country embarks on another expensive policy experiment,” he said.