SUBSIDY CLAIMS: ARODIOGBU HAILS EMIR SANUSI FOR CHALLENGING ATIKU'S POSITION

By TC Nwachukwu

The National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) South East and Co-Zonal Coordinator of the APC Presidential Campaign Council for the South East, Dr. Ijeomah Arodiogbu, has strongly commended the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, for courageously exposing the falsehoods, contradictions and economic illiteracy in former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s fuel subsidy claims.

Dr. Arodiogbu described Emir Sanusi’s recent intervention as timely, patriotic and a clear demonstration of intellectual honesty and national responsibility at a time when opposition politicians are peddling unrealistic and dangerous promises in a desperate bid to exploit the temporary hardships of necessary economic reforms. Presstv News Nigeria can report.

“Emir Sanusi has once again spoken truth to power without fear or favour. His clear position that Atiku Abubakar is either lying to Nigerians or simply does not understand the job he is seeking is a direct, accurate and devastating exposure of the former Vice President’s latest political gymnastics,” Dr. Arodiogbu stated.

“Atiku Abubakar, who in the 2023 presidential campaign vigorously supported the removal of the wasteful, corruption-ridden and unsustainable fuel subsidy, has now performed a complete U-turn. He is promising either a full return of the old subsidy or a vaguely defined ‘production subsidy’ purely because he is desperate for votes. This is classic political deceit. Emir Sanusi has correctly called it out for what it is.”

Dr. Arodiogbu noted that the Emir of Kano, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and one of Nigeria’s most respected economists and public intellectuals, understands better than most the deep structural damage the old subsidy regime inflicted on the nation’s public finances, foreign reserves, fiscal stability and development priorities. He recalled that Sanusi had consistently warned against politicians who offer easy but unsustainable solutions to complex economic problems.

“The fuel subsidy regime was a monumental fraud that enriched a tiny circle of middlemen, importers and political fixers while bleeding the nation dry. It distorted the economy, encouraged massive smuggling, and left successive governments unable to fund critical infrastructure, education, healthcare and security.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took the difficult but necessary decision to end that regime. The reforms, though painful in the short term, are already stabilising the economy, improving government revenue, restoring credibility to the naira and creating the foundation for lasting progress,” Arodiogbu explained.

He accused Atiku of playing on the emotions of Nigerians rather than offering serious, workable and fiscally responsible alternatives. According to him, any leader who truly understands the Nigerian economy knows that returning to the old subsidy system or introducing another poorly designed intervention would reverse the gains of the current reforms and plunge the country back into fiscal recklessness and eventual bankruptcy.

“Nigerians must not be deceived by these election-season promises. Those who today swear they will restore subsidy know fully well that it is neither sustainable nor in the long-term interest of the poor. The real question Atiku and his allies refuse to answer is simple: where will the money come from?

How will Nigeria fund a multi-trillion-naira subsidy while still meeting its obligations on infrastructure, security, education and debt servicing? Emir Sanusi has done the nation a great service by speaking the truth without fear or favour,” Dr. Arodiogbu declared.

The APC South East leader further pointed out that Emir Sanusi’s intervention aligns with the long-standing position of serious economists and development experts that Nigeria cannot continue to run an economy based on consumption subsidies that benefit the rich more than the poor while starving productive sectors of investment.

He reaffirmed the full support of the South East APC for President Tinubu’s economic reforms and the party’s determination to mobilise the zone solidly behind the President’s re-election in 2027. Dr. Arodiogbu insisted that true progress requires courage, consistency, intellectual honesty and leadership that prioritises the long-term interest of the nation over short-term political popularity.

“We in the APC South East stand firmly with the truth. We stand with Emir Sanusi. We stand with the reforms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Nigeria will not return to Egypt,” he concluded.