Sowore Vows to Restore Petrol Subsidy If Elected President in 2027

The African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate argues that subsidy removal has failed Nigerians, asserting that the government continues to subsidise both petrol and the naira despite official denials.

Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has declared that he would restore petrol subsidy if elected president in the 2027 general elections. Speaking during an appearance on Arise Television on Tuesday, the Sahara Reporters publisher also alleged that the federal government is still subsidising petrol and the naira despite its claim that subsidy has been removed. President Bola Tinubu famously ended the petrol subsidy regime on his first day in office in 2023, a declaration that immediately led to a spike in petrol prices and galloping inflation that has yet to abate. The president subsequently unified the exchange rates and floated the naira as economic hardship intensified for millions of Nigerians.

Asked whether he would bring back petrol subsidy, Sowore responded, “absolutely”. He argued that the government merely changed the name of the subsidy rather than eliminating it entirely. “In the first place, they’re still paying subsidies. They’re just changing the name of what they call it,” he said. According to Sowore, the government is subsidising not only petrol—because Nigeria does not produce enough locally—but also the naira through interventions in the foreign exchange market. “The reason the Naira is at a certain rate to a dollar is because it’s been quietly and secretly subsidised,” he stated.

The AAC candidate defended the principle of subsidies, arguing that the problem in Nigeria is not the concept of subsidy itself but rather how public resources are distributed. “You see what everybody has agreed happened to subsidy—it’s not that subsidy is bad because there’s no country that doesn’t subsidise the poor,” he said. He contended that wealthy Nigerians and businesses benefit more from government incentives than ordinary citizens, citing customs waivers granted to importers as a form of subsidy that is significantly more valuable than the relief previously enjoyed by consumers through cheaper petrol. “In fact, the people that get the most subsidy in Nigeria are not the poor; it’s the rich,” Sowore argued.

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Sowore linked the removal of fuel subsidy to the decline in the naira and broader economic challenges facing Nigerians. “And you saw what happened immediately you remove subsidy. Your economy tanked, your naira also went down the toilet,” he said. He argued that Nigeria needs to abandon what he described as an outdated economic mentality that has normalised poverty. “What we have to do differently, first and foremost, is to get rid of this old mentality and the ideas that brought poverty to become a standard and household name in Nigeria,” he said. Sowore also criticised the government’s emphasis on economic indicators, arguing that improved statistics would mean little if Nigerians continue to struggle to afford basic necessities. “It’s all about the optics. But optics don’t feed people,” he said.

The AAC candidate expressed concern over Nigeria’s food security situation, citing the latest Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report. According to FAO projections, 34.8 million Nigerians are expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity in 2026, with approximately 1.8 million in Emergency and some 15,000 in Catastrophe in Borno State. Sowore said it was particularly troubling that Nigeria, despite being a major oil-producing country, is among nations facing food shortages. “The Food and Agricultural Organisation regards Nigeria as one of the places where you need food in 2026. That is to say we are so bad and we are about the only country producing oil that’s on FAO’s list of countries that have food shortages,” he said. The FAO has launched a three-year Emergency and Resilience Plan requiring USD 347 million to support 12.6 million vulnerable people across Nigeria’s northeast, northwest, and north-central regions.

Sowore’s comments come amid ongoing debate over the impact of subsidy removal. The reform has delivered significant fiscal benefits, with Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributions surging to N28.78 trillion in 2024, a 79 percent jump from the N16.28 trillion shared in 2023. However, critics argue that the fiscal windfall has not translated into visible improvements in public services, with independent monitoring groups documenting a troubling disconnect between what states are receiving and what is being delivered in terms of roads, hospitals, and schools. The Allied People’s Movement has also called on the government to provide a comprehensive account of the trillions of naira realised from subsidy removal, noting that despite over N20 trillion saved since 2023, there has been increased poverty, high cost of living, and infrastructure deficit across the country. Sowore maintained that addressing poverty and food insecurity should be prioritised over the presentation of favourable economic statistics, arguing that the government cannot claim economic success while millions of Nigerians continue to struggle to meet their basic needs.