Vatsa Subsidy Removal Starvation: APC Chieftain Backs Atiku, Urges Tinubu To Rethink Policy
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger State, Jonathan Vatsa, has broken ranks with his own party to back former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s recent criticism of the Federal Government’s fuel subsidy removal, describing the policy as a source of starvation for ordinary Nigerians rather than genuine economic reform.
Vatsa, a former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in Niger State, made his position known in a statement issued in Minna on Sunday, titled “Let’s Take Atiku’s Message and Leave the Messenger.” “You don’t call this system reform, it is starvation. Nigerians can no longer breath, hardship has overwhelmed the people,” Vatsa submitted.
Vatsa said Nigerians had been “shortchanged and reduced to nothing” by the subsidy removal policy, which he alleged had worsened poverty and imposed unbearable hardship on citizens. He urged President Bola Tinubu to focus on the substance of Atiku’s criticism rather than dismiss it on account of political rivalry between the two men. “Even if you don’t like the messenger, you should at least take the message. The whole world knows that the subsidy removal policy of this government has failed; it has pushed Nigerians to extreme poverty,” he argued.
Taking aim at the government’s stated justification for the policy, Vatsa said, “If only payment of salaries is the reason for the removal of fuel subsidy, then the government is ignorant of how to manage the economy.” He went further to argue that the policy’s benefits had been concentrated among a narrow political elite rather than reaching ordinary citizens. According to the APC chieftain, the major beneficiaries of the policy had been state governors, political office holders and government appointees with access to public funds, arguing that it had not in any way benefited the common masses.
Vatsa ultimately called on Tinubu to reverse the subsidy removal decision entirely and issue a public apology to Nigerians for what he described as the hardship the policy has inflicted on the population, insisting that the president should separate his personal or political feelings toward Atiku from the substance of the message being conveyed.
The intervention adds a notable twist to the ongoing national debate over subsidy removal, given that Vatsa is speaking from within the same ruling party that implemented the policy, rather than from an opposition platform. His remarks align him more closely with Atiku and other government critics who have consistently argued that the manner and pace of the subsidy removal, rather than the policy’s underlying economic logic, has caused disproportionate suffering for ordinary Nigerians.
Since fuel subsidy removal was announced by President Tinubu shortly after assuming office in 2023, the policy has remained one of the most contentious issues in Nigerian politics, with fuel prices rising sharply and the naira weakening significantly against major currencies in its aftermath. The government has consistently defended the policy as a necessary, if painful, reform aimed at correcting long-standing economic imbalances and eliminating a subsidy regime it has repeatedly described as fraudulent and unsustainable. Successive opposition figures, civil society voices, and now dissenting figures within the APC itself, have continued to push back, arguing that the human cost of the reform has outweighed its stated benefits.
As of the time of filing, neither the Presidency nor the APC’s national leadership had issued a direct response to Vatsa’s statement, though his remarks are likely to fuel further internal debate within the ruling party as economic hardship remains a dominant theme ahead of the 2027 general election.
About the Author
