Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has promised to restore petrol subsidy if elected president in the 2027 general election.
Gatekeepers News reports that Sowore, who is also the publisher of Sahara Reporters, made the pledge during an appearance on Arise Television on Tuesday.
He also alleged that despite the Federal Government’s claim that petrol subsidy has been removed, the government continues to subsidise both petrol and the naira.
Asked whether he would restore petrol subsidy if elected, Sowore said, “absolutely”.
According to him, the government merely changed the name of the subsidy rather than completely eliminating it.
“In the first place, they’re still paying subsidies. They’re just changing the name of what they call it,” he said.
“They’re subsidising not only petrol because they don’t have enough and they can’t produce locally. They’re also subsidising the naira. That’s one thing they will never tell you.”
President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023, shortly after his inauguration, a decision that immediately triggered a sharp increase in petrol prices and contributed to rising living costs.
The administration later unified the country’s foreign exchange market and allowed the naira to float as part of its broader economic reforms.
Sowore argued that subsidy itself was not inherently harmful, saying governments had a responsibility to support vulnerable citizens.
“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.
However, he argued that Nigeria’s subsidy system had largely benefited wealthy individuals and businesses rather than ordinary citizens.
“In fact, the people that get the most subsidy in Nigeria are not the poor; it’s the rich,” Sowore said.
“All the people who bring in foreign goods and services, go and look at their waivers at customs, you will know who’s getting real subsidy compared to the people who are getting N10 from each gallon of petrol that was taken away from them.”
‘Economy Tanked After Subsidy Removal’
Sowore further criticised the removal of petrol subsidy, arguing that it worsened Nigeria’s economic situation and contributed to the depreciation of the naira.
“And you saw what happened immediately you remove subsidy. Your economy tanked, your naira also went down the toilet,” he said.
He said Nigeria needed to abandon what he described as an outdated economic mindset that had allowed poverty to become entrenched.
“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 dismissed the government’s emphasis on economic indicators, arguing that favourable statistics would have little meaning if Nigerians could not afford basic necessities.
“It’s all about the optics. But optics don’t feed people,” he said.
‘Nigeria Has Food Shortages’
The AAC presidential candidate also linked Nigeria’s economic difficulties to worsening food insecurity.
He referred to what he described as the latest Food and Agriculture Organisation report, saying it was alarming that Nigeria ranked among countries facing food shortages in 2026.
“The Food and Agricultural Organisation regards Nigeria as one of the places where you need food in 2026,” Sowore said.
“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 you have food shortages.”
He said tackling poverty and food insecurity should be given greater priority than presenting economic figures that do not reflect the daily realities of Nigerians.
