Chike-Obi Labels Atiku’s Petrol Subsidy Proposal Extremely Naive

By Sherif Salau

Mustafa Chike-Obi, former chairman of Fidelity Bank, has described former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar’s plan to reintroduce petrol subsidy as “extremely naive,” cautioning that it could consume as much as half of Nigeria’s national wealth in foreign exchange.

Chike-Obi made the remarks on Thursday during an episode of the Policy Without Politics podcast, which he co-hosts with Ken Ikpe, chief executive officer of Graviti Hill Limited. He argued that restoring the subsidy would place an unsustainable strain on the country’s limited foreign-exchange (FX) reserves at a time of constrained dollar inflows and competing demands for essential imports.

The comments form part of the ongoing national debate over fuel pricing. Atiku, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate for 2027, has pledged to restore a targeted form of subsidy if elected, contending that the removal of the previous regime has imposed severe hardship on ordinary Nigerians and that a carefully structured intervention is required to restore purchasing power.

Chike-Obi, a veteran banker and former chief executive of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, maintained that such a policy would reverse recent fiscal gains and expose the economy to renewed pressure. He emphasised that the scale of foreign-exchange outflows needed to sustain a subsidy could significantly weaken the naira and divert resources from other critical national priorities.

The exchange underscores the sharp divisions that continue to surround one of Nigeria’s most contested economic policies.