Former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has voiced his frustration with President Bola Tinubu, sharply criticizing his policies and likening him to the name “T-Pain.”
T-Pain is a reference to the pain Nigerians are experiencing under his administration.
Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), took to social media on Thursday to express his discontent.
He argued that Tinubu’s removal of the fuel subsidy has plunged the nation into deeper hardship.
“The haphazard and disingenuous approach of the current administration to fuel subsidy management has been the reason we are in this current economic crisis in the country.
“As things stand, there will be no let up in the escalating inflation rate, which is drowning the material well-being of Nigerians. It is even more worrying that T-pain is undisturbed by the hardship in the country,” Atiku wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Nigerians are feeling the squeeze of these policies daily.
NNPCL’s Gifts to Nigerians
On Wednesday, citizens woke up to another shock as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) quietly adjusted petrol prices.
In Lagos, prices at NNPCL stations surged to ₦998 per litre, up from ₦855.
Panic-buying ensued, with long, snake-like queues forming at petrol stations across the city.
Some independent stations even hiked prices to as high as ₦1,050 per litre.
Related: Nigeria’s Independence Day Protests: A Nation’s Cry for Economic Relief
Abuja was no exception, with prices skyrocketing from ₦897 to ₦1,030 per litre.
This latest jump comes just after the September price hike, which had already sent petrol costs soaring from ₦568 to ₦855 per litre, sparking outrage nationwide.
FG Fails to Take Responsibility
The Federal Government had earlier distanced itself from the latest surge in petrol prices.
They shifted the blame to global market volatility.
According to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, the recent price hike was not government-ordered.
Idris explained that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) made the decision due to global energy market conditions.
He stressed that since the removal of the subsidy in May 2023, NNPCL had been absorbing losses to keep prices stable but has now reached a breaking point.
“The NNPCL made this decision based on market realities and not on any instruction from the government,” Idris told journalists.
He also pointed to external factors like the ongoing Middle East crisis, which has disrupted global oil prices, forcing NNPCL to raise its rates.
While the Federal Government no longer controls petrol pricing due to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), Idris urged Nigerians to be patient, assuring that the price would stabilize in the future once market conditions improve.