The Vice-Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said an administration led by the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would reintroduce fuel subsidy in a different form if elected in the 2027 general election.

Kwankwaso, a former Governor of Kano State, stated this during an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday while discussing the fuel subsidy policy of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration and the positions of presidential candidates ahead of the 2027 election.

Asked whether it would be difficult for the NDC to campaign in the North-West, where there is support for the return of fuel subsidy, Kwankwaso said the party would introduce its own approach to subsidy.

“No, no, no, look. We are bringing subsidy in our own way,” he said.

Explaining how the party intends to achieve this, Kwankwaso said an NDC-led government could invest in refineries to boost domestic production and make petrol available to Nigerians at what he described as a reasonable price.

He said, “Of course, there are many ways. One, I can tell you: now we have a refinery built by a businessman and I’m sure more refineries would be built.

“Now, if individuals in this country could build refineries, I see no reason why government, under certain circumstances, will not build a refinery or refineries to the extent that we achieve the minimum requirement.

“What is the minimum requirement? The minimum requirement is for the people across the country to go to the filling stations and buy fuel at a reasonable price.

“We, in the NDC, will do whatever it takes, really, to put the price of oil down.”

Kwankwaso also said the three major presidential candidates in the 2023 election, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, had campaigned on removing the fuel subsidy.

However, he criticised President Tinubu for implementing the policy immediately after assuming office, arguing that the consequences of the decision had become evident.

He said, “Of course, among the three of them, Bola Tinubu decided to do so and removed the subsidy. And the consequences that we thought would happen, certainly happened.

“And not only did he decide to remove the subsidy, what he did was to remove it immediately, in fact, day one, without looking at all those possible issues that were associated with that. And that’s how we find ourselves in this total mess, economically.”

President Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy during his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, declaring that “subsidy is gone.”

Following the announcement, petrol prices rose from below N200 per litre to more than N500 in many parts of the country, with the increase also contributing to higher transportation and other costs.

In a national broadcast in July 2023, Tinubu acknowledged that the policy had increased the cost of fuel, food and other goods, while arguing that the subsidy regime had become financially unsustainable and that savings from its removal would be redirected to other areas.

Kwankwaso’s comments come amid continuing debate among opposition politicians over the future of fuel subsidy ahead of the 2027 general election.

At the Nigeria Bar Association’s 66th Annual General Conference in August, presidential candidates and representatives of other political parties also expressed differing positions on the policy, with some advocating its return and others supporting alternative measures to make petrol more affordable.