Atiku Dismisses Tinubu's Transport Fare Plan as Election-Year Stunt

Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, has rejected President Bola Tinubu's recent commitment to work with state governors on reducing public transport fares. In a statement released Friday through his spokesperson Phrank Shaibu, Atiku characterised the pledge as a tardy and politically motivated gesture designed to address mounting public frustration over Nigeria's cost-of-living crisis.

Atiku's critique centres on what he views as the administration's broader economic mismanagement, particularly the removal of fuel subsidies since Tinubu took office in 2023. He argues the government's strategy to convert vehicles to compressed natural gas represents a failure in execution and scale, citing federal figures showing only approximately 120,000 vehicles have undergone conversion to date.

According to Atiku, this inadequate rollout demonstrates how little substantive progress the administration has made in tackling transportation costs. The former Vice President has called instead for a targeted fuel subsidy programme to directly address the cost-of-living emergency confronting Nigerians.

He frames Tinubu's transport fare initiative as insufficient crisis management rather than genuine economic policy reform, suggesting the move reflects electoral calculation rather than comprehensive governance. In remarks that extend beyond transport policy, Atiku predicted his own victory in the 2027 presidential election, instructing Tinubu to begin preparing transition documents.

He linked the current economic hardship directly to policy decisions made since 2023, describing the administration's approach as an economic experiment conducted on the Nigerian population.