You’re the Egypt Nigerians will never return to, Atiku tackles Tinubu
Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has said President Bola Tinubu’s comparison of fuel subsidy relief to asking Moses to return to Egypt has exposed “how little he…
The fuel subsidy removal, announced by President Bola Tinubu on his inauguration day in May 2023, remains one of the most consequential and contested policies of his administration. The subsidy had long consumed a large share of government revenue, but its removal triggered sharp increases in petrol prices, transport fares and the general cost of living, fuelling criticism from opposition politicians, labour unions and ordinary Nigerians who say palliatives and reforms have not cushioned the impact.
Atiku Abubakar, a longtime political rival of Tinubu and now standard-bearer of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has been a persistent critic of the administration's economic policies. His latest remarks respond directly to Tinubu's own biblical analogy likening calls to reverse the subsidy removal to asking Moses to lead the Israelites back to Egypt, with Atiku turning the metaphor back on the president to argue that current hardship, not the pre-subsidy era, is the "Egypt" Nigerians wish to escape. Both Daily Trust and Leadership report the exchange in similar terms, framing it as part of the broader political sparring over who bears responsibility for the economic pain accompanying the reforms.