Sowore Promises to Bring Back Fuel Subsidy if Elected President

The presidential candidate for the African Action Congress in the 2027 election, Omoyele Sowore, has said he will bring back fuel subsidy if he becomes President.

Sowore made this statement during an interview on ARISE TV on Tuesday. He was discussing his ideas for fixing Nigeria’s economic problems.

When asked if he would restore fuel subsidy if elected, Sowore replied, “Absolutely.”

He pointed out that the Federal Government is still subsidizing parts of the economy, even though it removed the petrol subsidy.

“In the first place, they are still paying subsidy. They just changed the name of whatever they call it. They are subsidising not only petrol, because they don’t have enough and can’t produce locally, they are also subsidising the Naira. That’s one thing they will never tell you,” he said.

Sowore explained that the exchange rate of the naira is also being supported by what he called “quiet and secret” subsidies.

“The reason the Naira is at a certain, you know, rate to a dollar, is because it’s being quietly and secretly subsidized,” he said.

When he was told that other countries support their currencies, Sowore said the real issue is the government's lack of honesty about subsidies.

“Yes, but why are you lying about subsidy then? You know, we have to stop telling lies about… See, what everybody has agreed happened to subsidy, it’s not that subsidy is bad, because there’s no country in the world that doesn’t subsidize their poor,” he said.

He claimed that rich Nigerians benefit more from government subsidies than the poor. He mentioned customs waivers given to importers as an example.

“In fact, the people that get the most subsidy in Nigeria is not the poor, it’s the rich. All the people who bring in, you know, foreign goods and services, go and look at their waivers at customs. You will know who is getting real subsidy compared to the people who are getting 10-10 Naira from each gallon of petrol that was taken away from them,” he said.

Sowore linked the removal of fuel subsidy to the drop in the value of the naira and the economic problems Nigerians are facing.

“And you saw what happened immediately you remove subsidy. Look at where your economy tanked. Your Naira also went down the toilet,” he said.

He added that his administration would work to change the “old mentality” that causes poverty in the country.

“So, there’s no need for us to sit down here and ask, ‘Oh, what would you do differently?’ Of course, 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, you know, household name in Nigeria,” Sowore said.

He also criticized the term “multidimensional poverty” used to describe Nigeria’s economic issues.

Sowore mentioned the food insecurity problem in Nigeria, saying the country is unusual among oil-producing nations because of food shortages.

“The Food and Agriculture Organization regards Nigeria as one of the places where you need food in 2026. That is to say, we are so bad, and we are about the only country producing oil that is on FAO’s list of countries that, you know, that has food shortages. That’s, that’s the country we are in,” he said.

Sowore said the government talks too much about how they present the economy instead of focusing on the real issues facing Nigerians.

President Bola Tinubu announced the end of the long-standing fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023. He declared during his inauguration speech that “subsidy is gone.”

He said the policy could not be justified anymore because of its high cost. The money saved would go to public infrastructure, education, healthcare, and job creation.

This decision took effect almost immediately. It caused petrol prices to more than double from the previous regulated prices, raising transport and living costs across the country.