Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Federal Government of favouring wealthy petroleum investors with tax credits, concessions and other fiscal incentives while ordinary Nigerians continue to struggle with high petrol prices and the rising cost of living.

Atiku, who is the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, made the allegation in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

He criticised the Federal Government’s petrol subsidy policy, arguing that while Nigerians were told to endure the pain of subsidy removal as part of economic reforms, major oil companies and investors continued to benefit from government-backed incentives.

Atiku said the government had created what he described as a double standard by providing support to wealthy investors while denying relief to citizens facing economic hardship.

The former vice-president also questioned the claim that petrol subsidy had been completely removed, citing figures from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s accounts, which he said showed trillions of naira in energy-security expenses and related shortfalls.

According to Atiku, changing the name from subsidy to “under-recovery,” “shortfall” or “energy security” does not change the fact that public funds are still being used to support the petroleum sector.

He insisted that his proposed policy would not return Nigeria to the former open-ended and corruption-prone subsidy regime.

Instead, he said his plan would introduce a targeted, capped and transparently budgeted intervention linked to increased domestic production and refining.

Atiku also called for greater transparency in the management of petroleum-sector tax credits, concessions and other incentives, demanding that the government disclose the beneficiaries, the revenue forgone and the benefits Nigerians receive in return.

He maintained that the success of economic reforms should be measured by improvements in the living standards of ordinary Nigerians rather than the amount of hardship they are forced to endure.