Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has challenged the Federal Government to account for the funds it saved following the removal of the fuel subsidy, amid the latest threat by the Academic Staff Union of Universities to embark on a nationwide strike.
Atiku argued that the renewed industrial dispute in the university system contradicted the government’s promise that savings from subsidy removal would be redirected to critical sectors such as education.
In a statement released on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president urged President Bola Tinubu to explain how the funds generated from the subsidy policy had been utilised.
“If the subsidy is gone and Nigerians have paid for that decision through unprecedented hardship, then President Tinubu owes the country a simple answer: where is the money?” he asked.
ASUU had on Friday warned that it could commence a nationwide strike “within the shortest time possible” unless the government urgently addressed concerns affecting university lecturers.
The union’s president, Chris Piwuna, said the decision followed an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council at the University of Abuja.
Piwuna accused both the Federal and state governments of failing to fully implement the agreement reached with the union in December 2025.
The lecturers’ union also expressed concern over deductions for pension contributions, staff cooperative societies and check-off dues, alleging that the funds had not been remitted for several months.
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‘House Of Cards Of Falsehoods Is Collapsing’
Reacting to the development, Atiku said the ASUU crisis had exposed what he described as inconsistencies in the government’s justification for ending the fuel subsidy.
He said Nigerians had endured increased petrol prices, transport fares, food costs, energy bills and school fees on the understanding that money saved from subsidy removal would be invested in education, healthcare, infrastructure and other essential services.
“The house of cards of falsehoods erected by the Tinubu administration to justify the suffering of Nigerians is collapsing before our eyes,” he said.
“A government that strips citizens of relief, denies them meaningful social protection and fails to deliver the basic improvements it promised has forfeited the moral credibility to continue preaching sacrifice.”
The former vice-president also questioned the government’s repeated claim that subsidy savings had resulted in higher allocations to state governments, asking why the alleged increase in revenue had not translated into better public education.
“Government officials repeatedly tell Nigerians that subsidy savings have translated into larger allocations to states. But if substantially more money is supposedly flowing to the states, why has the condition of public education not improved accordingly?” he asked.
“You cannot boast about record allocations while students sit at home because lecturers are on strike.
“You cannot celebrate higher revenues when classrooms, laboratories, hostels and teaching facilities remain inadequate.”
Atiku further took aim at the government’s student loan programme, arguing that the administration had made education and other basic necessities more expensive before introducing loans to help students cope with the increased financial burden.
“This government removed subsidy, increased the cost of transportation, food and virtually every other necessity, and watched the cost of university education rise beyond the reach of many families,” he said.
“After helping to make education more expensive, the same government created NELFUND and now celebrates giving young Nigerians loans to pay fees that many of their parents can no longer comfortably afford.”
He described the situation as “government-manufactured poverty”.
Atiku also accused the administration of prioritising concessions, waivers and other benefits for influential interests while ordinary Nigerians continued to struggle with rising costs.
According to him, the latest ASUU dispute showed that subsidy removal had neither ended recurring strikes in the university system nor delivered the improvements in public services that Nigerians were promised.
“Tinubu removed subsidy from the people, but he has not removed the threat of ASUU strikes,” Atiku said.
“He has not resolved the crisis of unpaid obligations. He has not sufficiently expanded our universities. He has not made education more affordable. And he certainly has not removed the hardship confronting Nigerian families.”