Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on President Bola Tinubu to explain how the funds generated from the removal of fuel subsidy have been utilised, amid the renewed threat of industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
In a statement issued on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that the latest strike warning from ASUU was inconsistent with the Federal Government’s explanation for removing the subsidy, particularly as public universities continued to struggle with inadequate funding.
The statement came after ASUU again raised concerns over unpaid obligations and unresolved agreements with the Federal Government, sparking fears of another interruption to the university academic calendar.
Atiku said Nigerians could no longer be expected to endure the economic difficulties resulting from subsidy removal while public universities continued to face funding shortfalls, poor infrastructure and unresolved labour-related challenges.
He said, “Subsidy removal was presented to Nigerians as a painful but necessary reform that would free resources for critical sectors, including education, healthcare, infrastructure and social welfare.
“If the subsidy is gone and Nigerians have paid for that decision through unprecedented hardship, then President Tinubu owes the country a simple answer: where is the money?
“The house of cards of falsehoods erected by the Tinubu administration to justify the suffering of Nigerians is collapsing before our eyes.”
The African Democratic Congress presidential candidate said the development was even more concerning in view of repeated statements by government officials that subsidy removal had boosted government revenues and increased allocations to state governments.
“If substantially more money is supposedly flowing to the states, why has the condition of public education not improved accordingly?
“A government that strips citizens of relief, denies them meaningful social protection and fails to deliver the basic improvements it promised has forfeited the moral credibility to continue preaching sacrifice,” Atiku said.
He insisted that the Federal Government owed Nigerians a detailed explanation of the resources generated since the subsidy regime was discontinued and how the funds had been spent.
According to Atiku, “A government cannot keep taking from the people, returning excuses and loans, and calling that reform.
“Tinubu removed subsidy from the people, but he has not removed the threat of ASUU strikes. He has not resolved the crisis of unpaid obligations. He has not sufficiently expanded our universities. He has not made education more affordable.”
Atiku also alleged that the administration was operating different standards for ordinary citizens and influential individuals, claiming that government was prepared to offer concessions and privileges to powerful interests while workers, students and families were left to bear the impact of economic hardship.
He continued, “The poor are told there is no money for subsidy. Students are told to borrow. Lecturers are told to wait. Parents are told to endure.
“But when powerful and well-connected interests come knocking, government always appears capable of finding concessions, waivers and privileges.
“The sacrifice has been collected from Nigerians in full. The promised benefits have not been delivered in full. So President Tinubu must answer the question that will not go away: Where is the money?”
He added that the challenges were not limited to federal universities, noting that a number of state-owned institutions had equally faced strikes and other disruptions.
According to him, the situation had also raised wider concerns about the management of increased government revenues and whether the education sector had sufficient capacity to meet the needs of Nigeria’s expanding youth population.
“You cannot boast about record allocations while students sit at home because lecturers are on strike.
“You cannot celebrate higher revenues when classrooms, laboratories, hostels and teaching facilities remain inadequate,” he said.
Atiku further argued that the removal of fuel subsidy had placed additional financial pressure on households at a time when the cost of university education was also increasing.
“This government removed subsidy, increased the cost of transportation, food and virtually every other necessity, and watched the cost of university education rise beyond the reach of many families,” he said.
The ADC chieftain also faulted the administration’s student loan initiative, arguing that the programme was being presented as a solution to difficulties that had been worsened by the rising cost of living and education.
“After helping to make education more expensive, the same government created NELFUND and now celebrates giving young Nigerians loans to pay fees that many of their parents can no longer comfortably afford.
“What kind of reform first empties a family’s pocket and then offers the child a loan to survive the hardship government helped create?
“That is not progress. It is a vicious circle of government-manufactured poverty,” he said.
The former vice president also questioned whether Nigerian universities currently had enough capacity to absorb the increasing number of young Nigerians seeking admission into tertiary institutions each year.
