Vice President Kashim Shettima
Vice President Kashim Shettima has ridiculed ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s shift in economic positions, saying a change of ideological wardrobe cannot balance a national budget.
Shettima spoke on Wednesday at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja, where he took on Atiku’s proposed production subsidy.
Atiku is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress.
“Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this political season has become a masterclass in cinematic comedy,” Shettima said.
He said Atiku, who had “worn the toga of capitalism with pride throughout his political career”, now sounded like “the legitimate offspring of Vladimir Lenin.”
He said the “ideological union” would have astonished even the most imaginative historians of communism.
Shettima said Atiku’s proposal for production subsidies raised questions that “ideological costume changes cannot answer”.
“Who pays? Who benefits? And which competing priorities must surrender their funding?
“A change of ideological wardrobe cannot balance a national budget,” he added.
The Vice President said political ambition was more than the wish to hold public office.
“Political ambition is not merely the desire to [hold] public office. It is a test of character, intellectual maturity and responsibility.
“The higher the office a person seeks, the greater the discipline expected in his words, conduct and relationship with public institutions,” he said.
Atiku has promised to restore the petrol subsidy if he wins in 2027, saying on August 25 that his position has not changed and will not change.
He said the measure would support domestic refining and production and would not return to the old import subsidy.
The former VP said the scheme would be targeted, capped, transparently budgeted and independently audited.
On October 9, Atiku rejected the Federal Government’s 30-day petrol discount at NNPC retail stations as “too limited and selective”, and renewed the call for a production-based subsidy.
However, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the discount is not a subsidy but a sale at cost, with public transporters prioritised.