Former Ekiti North Senator Ayo Arise has criticized Atiku Abubakar’s proposal for renewed petrol price support, arguing that it risks reopening a system associated with waste, corruption and fiscal instability.
Arise, an All Progressives Congress chieftain, said subsidy removal had increased the financial resources available to federal and state governments.
He argued that higher revenues had improved governments’ ability to pay salaries and finance development projects.
Those conclusions represent Arise’s political assessment and would require broader fiscal analysis to determine the full effect of subsidy removal.
Arise said the benefits should be measured not only against the immediate increase in living costs but also against improvements in government finances.
He pointed to more regular salary payments and funding for programmes such as the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
The former senator also argued that the previous subsidy regime created opportunities for fraudulent import claims and diversion of products.
He warned that restoring a similar system could recreate those incentives.
Atiku’s campaign has said its proposal is not a return to the old import based subsidy arrangement.
It has instead described the plan as a targeted and temporary affordability intervention linked to domestic refining.
That distinction remains central to the policy debate.
The competing arguments reflect a broader disagreement over whether petrol price support can be redesigned safely or whether any subsidy mechanism would recreate the fiscal and governance problems associated with the former regime.
