Paul Ibe, media advisor to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, defended Atiku’s change of position on the removal of gasoline subsidies, saying leadership requires the courage to rethink policies that are causing hardship to citizens.
In a post on X on Friday, Ibe responded to the Presidency’s criticism of Atiku over his proposed Atiku Economic Recovery Plan (AERP).
“Dear @aonanuga1956, HE @atiku should not be attacked simply because he is willing to reconsider a political position he held in 2023,” Ibe said. “Leadership and cruelty should never go hand in hand. A responsible leader must be prepared to rethink, restructure, or even reverse a policy when its implementation is causing serious hardship to the people he or she is trying to govern.”
Ibe acknowledged that Atiku supported the elimination of subsidies during the 2023 campaign, but argued that changing his position after seeing the consequences is not hypocrisy.
“The most important question is whether the policy has improved the lives of ordinary Nigerians and whether the savings have translated into transportation, healthcare, education, employment and meaningful social protection,” he said.
Citing World Bank data, Ibe said the reforms have worsened living conditions. According to him, the Bank recognized that the removal of subsidies and related reforms intensified pressures on households and initially caused a sharp rise in oil prices and inflation.
He added that the Bank estimated that another seven million Nigerians would fall into poverty in 2025, raising the proportion living below the national poverty line to 63 percent. He also noted that poor households spend up to 70 percent of their income on food, and that in October 2025 the Bank said macroeconomic advances had not translated into improved living standards.
“Therefore, Tinubu’s argument cannot simply be: Atiku supported the removal of subsidies in 2023, therefore he must support it forever,” Ibe said.
“Public policy doesn’t work that way. Governments evaluate outcomes. Economists revise assumptions. Central banks change course. Presidents should be able to do the same. When the human cost of a policy becomes intolerable, like what Nigerians are currently experiencing under Tinubu, stubbornness is not leadership.”
He made a distinction between accepting that the old subsidy regime was opaque and expensive and supporting the way it was implemented.
He noted that even the World Bank highlighted the need to compensate vulnerable Nigerians and strengthen social protection.
“President Tinubu and those around him may be insulated from the daily consequences of these policies, but millions of Nigerians are not. They face transportation costs, food prices, rent, school fees and declining purchasing power every day,” he said.
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Ibe said he would rather have a leader who is willing to reconsider a policy after seeing its impact than one who “watches citizens sink deeper into difficulties simply to avoid admitting that a policy needs restructuring.”
“Policies are made for people. People are not forced to suffer indefinitely for policies. When a policy harms the population it was supposed to serve, compassionate leadership requires the courage to rethink it,” he added.
Regarding the AERP, Ibe stated that the plan goes beyond the service station. He explained that lower domestic refining costs will reduce gasoline and diesel prices, cut transportation and logistics costs, help farmers move their products to markets, and allow manufacturers and companies to invest and employ more.
“Ultimately, the Atiku plan will revive the economy prostrated by Tinubu’s ‘Bole Kaja’ policies,” he added.
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