Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has blamed President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy on his first day in office for plunging millions of Nigerians into hunger and deepening economic hardship across the country.
In a statement shared on Sunday via his verified X handle, Atiku described the move as “hasty and thoughtless,” saying it has worsened the living conditions of the average Nigerian.
According to him, “The decision to remove petrol subsidy without proper plans has buried the average Nigerian under the weight of inflation, hunger, and despair.”
He said the government’s failure to follow through on its promises has worsened the suffering. “In a bid to manage the self-inflicted crisis, the administration promised to pay a wage award to federal civil servants as a temporary cushion pending the conclusion of negotiations on a new national minimum wage,” Atiku noted.
“That promise, like many others under this government, has become a broken covenant,” he said.
Atiku pointed out that it took the federal government 10 months to agree on a new minimum wage, during which the wage award was supposed to serve as a relief measure. However, he said workers only received six months’ worth of the promised N35,000 monthly allowance — and only after repeated delays and unmet assurances.
“By implication, the federal government owes 10 months of wage award arrears to federal workers. Yet, only six months have been paid — and that too after a series of unfulfilled assurances and avoidable delays,” he stated.
He calculated the outstanding amount per worker to be N140,000.
While commending some state governments for addressing labour issues responsibly, Atiku criticised the federal government for what he called “callous indifference and utter disdain for workers’ welfare.”
He also condemned the arrest and continued detention of labour activist Andrew Uche Emelieze, who was picked up nearly two weeks ago while planning a peaceful protest over unpaid wage awards.
“Instead of engaging in dialogue or fulfilling its promises, the government has now resorted to tyranny and suppression of free speech,” Atiku said. “His only ‘crime’ was speaking up for workers abandoned by the state.”
He called for Emelieze’s immediate and unconditional release, describing his detention as “an affront to democracy, a slap in the face of every Nigerian worker, and a chilling reminder of the authoritarian drift of the Tinubu administration.”
Atiku warned that Nigerian workers cannot be ignored. “Let it be known: Nigerian workers will not be silenced, intimidated, or forgotten. The economic hardship is real, the hunger is biting, and the government has a duty to act, not repress,” he added.
