Fuel subsidy was organised crime, I’ll stop fraud if elected — Peter Obi

Former Anambra State Governor and presidential hopeful, Peter Obi, has vowed to confront corruption and fraud within Nigeria’s fuel sector if elected president in 2027, describing the country’s former fuel subsidy regime as “organised crime.”

Speaking during an interview on Trust TV, Obi questioned the credibility of Nigeria’s fuel consumption figures, insisting that the volume of petrol reportedly consumed across the country does not align with available evidence and economic realities.

According to him, the subsidy system created loopholes that encouraged large-scale abuse and manipulation.

“Subsidy is organised crime and I won’t allow any form of criminality as the president of Nigeria. The amount of fuel they say we consume cannot be consumed by this country, there’s empirical evidence,” Obi said.

The former Labour Party presidential candidate argued that Nigeria’s reported petrol consumption appears excessive when compared with countries of similar population and infrastructure profiles.

Drawing a comparison with Pakistan, Obi said both countries share similarities in population size and road networks, yet Pakistan reportedly consumes far less fuel than Nigeria.

“We are about the same as Pakistan; they have more roads, and we probably have the same number of vehicles, or they have even more, yet their fuel consumption is a third of ours, so who is drinking the balance?” he queried.

Obi maintained that beyond the removal of fuel subsidy, authorities must thoroughly scrutinise fuel supply and consumption data to eliminate fraud within the system.

During the buildup to the 2023 Nigerian presidential election, Obi and several other candidates advocated the removal of fuel subsidy, arguing that the system had become financially unsustainable.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu eventually announced the removal of the subsidy during his inauguration in Abuja on May 29, 2023, triggering a sharp rise in petrol prices and transportation costs across the country.

Obi, however, insisted that subsidy removal alone was not enough, stressing that future reforms must also address alleged manipulation of fuel consumption figures and ensure accountability in the petroleum sector.

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