Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to account for the funds saved from the removal of fuel subsidy, amid renewed threats by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to embark on industrial action.
Atiku said the latest warning by ASUU had exposed what he described as a contradiction in the Federal Government’s justification for removing the subsidy.
In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president said Nigerians had endured soaring fuel prices, transport fares, food costs, energy bills and other expenses on the promise that subsidy savings would be redirected to critical sectors such as education.
He questioned why public universities remained underfunded, lecturers continued to complain about outstanding entitlements and agreements, and students once again faced the prospect of disruption to their academic programmes.
“If the subsidy is gone and Nigerians have paid for that decision through unprecedented hardship, then President Tinubu owes the country a simple answer: where is the money?” Atiku asked.
He accused the administration of failing to provide the social protection and improved public services Nigerians were promised when the subsidy regime was dismantled.
“The house of cards of falsehoods erected by the Tinubu administration to justify the suffering of Nigerians is collapsing before our eyes,” he said.
Atiku argued that the government had imposed what he described as an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis on Nigerians without adequately cushioning the effects of its economic reforms.
He said families were battling rising food, transportation and energy costs, while declining purchasing power had made it increasingly difficult for parents to meet educational expenses.
“That is what makes the present university crisis indefensible. Government removed the cushion, collected the supposed savings and imposed the hardship, but Nigerians cannot see the corresponding improvement in their schools, hospitals or everyday lives,” he said.
The ADC presidential candidate also questioned claims that increased allocations to state governments following subsidy removal had translated into better public services.
“Government officials repeatedly tell Nigerians that subsidy savings have translated into larger allocations to states. But if substantially more money is supposedly flowing to the states, why has the condition of public education not improved accordingly?” he asked.
According to him, the crisis extends beyond federal universities, as several state-owned institutions have also experienced industrial disputes and academic disruptions.
Atiku said the situation pointed to a wider crisis in Nigeria’s public education system and raised questions about how the increased revenues accruing to governments were being utilised.
“You cannot boast about record allocations while students sit at home because lecturers are on strike. You cannot celebrate higher revenues when classrooms, laboratories, hostels and teaching facilities remain inadequate,” he said.
He also criticised the Federal Government’s student loan initiative, arguing that the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) cannot address the underlying affordability crisis confronting Nigerian families.
Atiku said subsidy removal had increased household expenses and made it harder for parents to finance university education, while students were being encouraged to borrow to meet their educational needs.
“What kind of reform first empties a family’s pocket and then offers the child a loan to survive the hardship government helped create?” he asked.
He described the situation as “a vicious circle of government-manufactured poverty”, stressing that student loans should not replace adequate government investment in public universities and affordable education.
Atiku further warned that Nigeria’s tertiary education system was not expanding at a pace capable of meeting the demands of its growing youth population.
He questioned the government over the availability of classrooms, laboratories, hostels, teaching facilities and admission spaces needed to accommodate the increasing number of young Nigerians seeking university education.
“You cannot raise the cost of education, leave infrastructure inadequate, fail to settle lecturers’ legitimate claims, disregard agreements and then congratulate yourself for giving students loans,” he said.
The former vice president also accused the administration of being more willing to grant concessions and privileges to powerful interests than address the challenges confronting ordinary Nigerians.
“The poor are told there is no money for subsidy. Students are told to borrow. Lecturers are told to wait. Parents are told to endure,” Atiku said.
He insisted that the Federal Government owed Nigerians greater transparency on the resources it claimed would be freed by subsidy removal and how the funds were being deployed.
“The sacrifice has been collected from Nigerians in full. The promised benefits have not been delivered in full,” he said.
Atiku challenged Tinubu to explain why the removal of fuel subsidy had not brought an end to the recurring crisis in the university system.
“Tinubu removed subsidy from the people, but he has not removed the threat of ASUU strikes. He has not resolved the crisis of unpaid obligations. He has not sufficiently expanded our universities. He has not made education more affordable. And he certainly has not removed the hardship confronting Nigerian families,” he said.
He maintained that Nigerians could no longer be expected to make endless sacrifices without seeing corresponding improvements in education, healthcare, infrastructure and other essential public services.
