On Saturday, Otunba Segun Showunmi, convener of The Alternative, denounced former Vice‑President Atiku Abubakar’s pledge to reinstate Nigeria’s petrol subsidy at a mobilisation event in Abeokuta. Showunmi called the proposal “overtly and inordinately ambitious” and warned that the country would never return to the subsidy era it had abandoned in 1973.
Showunmi reminded attendees that the subsidy was introduced in 1973 and that, “If it had worked, wouldn’t we have seen it?” He argued that the policy had failed to deliver tangible benefits, citing the inability to repair refineries for years and the fact that a private operator had taken over a refinery in the interim. “We have left Egypt,” he said, stressing that the removal of the subsidy had actually increased government revenues at the federal, state and local levels.
“Now you have gotten to the point where there’s money in the local government, there’s money in the state, there’s money in the federal,” Showunmi said, defending President Bola Tinubu’s economic direction and the policies he has pursued.
He urged continuity in governance, warning that “we cannot be changing leadership every four years” and that democracy requires time to implement long‑term policies. Showunmi dismissed opposition to Tinubu from southern politicians as a waste of resources, describing them as “jokers” who could not realistically win the presidency.
Finally, Showunmi appealed to Yoruba voters, urging them to back Tinubu and avoid a scenario where the North produces more votes than the South‑West. “I have come home to beg the Yoruba people that you will not be ashamed,” he said, adding that the election would ultimately be “Bola Tinubu’s election to win.”
<small>Source: Daily Post Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
