ABIA State Governor, Alex Otti, has rejected calls for the return of petrol subsidy, arguing that Nigeria should direct its limited resources towards production, infrastructure and improving the operating environment for businesses.
Otti said subsidising fuel consumption does more to encourage waste and inefficiency than to strengthen the economy.
The Labour Party governor made the remarks during an interview with Arise TV on Thursday, while explaining his support for some of the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He said his opposition to petrol subsidy was not a recent position, noting that he had publicly advocated its removal years before Tinubu assumed office.
Otti recalled that he wrote about the issue in THISDAY during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when the collapse in global oil demand, in his view, presented an opportunity to end the subsidy.
“I’ve always been consistent on subsidies. And I’ve written extensively,” he said.
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‘Subsidising consumption promotes waste’
According to Otti, government policy should prioritise productive activities rather than making consumption artificially cheaper.
He argued that people generally become more conscious of how much they consume when they bear the cost themselves, while subsidies can create incentives for excessive consumption and abuse.
“When you subsidise consumption rather than production, you are just subsidising laziness. You are subsidising, sometimes, corruption,” the governor said.
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Otti acknowledged the hardship associated with the removal of the subsidy but maintained that the decision itself was necessary.
He also suggested that renewed calls for subsidy could be influenced by the approach of the 2027 elections.
“You know, as election approaches, people will be making all sorts of arguments. But removing the subsidy was the right thing to be done,” he said.
“If you are pushing for a subsidy to return, you don’t mean well for the country.”
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Otti: Give manufacturers reliable power
The governor said government could provide greater support to businesses by addressing structural challenges, particularly electricity supply, instead of subsidising petrol.
He said manufacturers and other businesses that use fuel for production would be willing to pay for energy if they had access to dependable electricity.
“For the people who use it for production, for their factories, those people, they really don’t need the subsidy. They just need constant power supply. And once you’re able to guarantee them constant power supply, they’ll pay,” Otti said.
Atiku calls for subsidy restoration
Otti’s comments come amid renewed political debate over the future of petrol pricing ahead of the 2027 general election.
Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, said in August that he would restore petrol subsidy if elected president.
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Atiku has also questioned how the government has deployed the funds saved after the subsidy was removed.
“I did not oppose the removal of the oil subsidy, but where is the money? Where did it go? It was intended to reduce poverty and help children attend school. Where is the money now?” Atiku said in Hausa.
The opposing positions have placed petrol subsidy once again at the centre of debate over Nigeria’s economic policy, with arguments focusing on government spending, consumer costs, production and the use of savings from subsidy removal.
