Abia State Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate Kelechi Anosike has said President Bola Tinubu deserves a second term, arguing that fuel subsidy removal has increased resources available to state governments and supported infrastructure development.
Anosike said higher federation allocations had reduced pressure on states that previously struggled to meet salary and pension obligations.
His claims about the scale of allocation increases and borrowing by states represent his political assessment and were not independently verified in the source material.
The governorship candidate nevertheless said the policy had imposed significant costs on households.
He argued that Nigerians who bore the effects of higher transport and living costs should receive a direct welfare dividend from the additional public resources created by subsidy removal.
Anosike proposed state level programmes covering food support, transport subsidies, workers’ welfare, healthcare, education assistance and youth enterprise.
He described his approach as a modern form of welfare policy that would use public resources to reduce living costs while increasing productive capacity.
The PDP candidate said infrastructure and social welfare should not be treated as competing priorities.
He argued that governments could build roads and hospitals while also ensuring citizens could afford food, transport, healthcare and education.
Anosike said the principle would guide his administration if elected governor in 2027.
His unusual endorsement of Tinubu, despite contesting under the opposition PDP, reflects the increasingly fluid political alignments developing ahead of the general election.
He said the central test of public policy should be whether citizens benefit directly from the additional fiscal space created by major reforms.
