The Vice Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2027 election, Rabiu Kwankwaso, says the party has agreed to consider all options, including the return of fuel subsidy, to reduce petrol prices if elected.

Kwankwaso said he, the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and its leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, are now on the same page on the contentious issue.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, the former Kano State governor said the party’s position was informed by the high cost of energy and the hardship Nigerians continue to face.

“We are on the same page now with His Excellency Peter Obi. Our collective position now is that the price of energy in this country is too high and our position is we are going to do whatever is necessary to ensure that the price of fuel in this country is taken back, including doing whatever we can, including the subsidy and so on and so forth,” he said.

Obi had previously supported the removal of fuel subsidy but later promised to restore it under a system free of corruption. Kwankwaso, however, had consistently advocated bringing back the subsidy in a different form to lower petrol prices.

President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy during his inauguration on May 29, 2023, declaring that “subsidy is gone”.

The policy triggered a sharp increase in petrol prices and contributed to rising costs of goods and services across the country.

Kwankwaso said Nigerians had yet to recover from the economic shock of the policy, arguing that tackling corruption in the oil industry could help address the problem.

“We believe we could get an answer, that is removing corruption wherever it is in the oil industry. Now, we have seen the implication of removing the subsidy on day one in this country today, up till now, I think nobody has recovered from that shock of removing that subsidy on that day,” he said.

He said the NDC and its presidential ticket had held several discussions on the issue, describing their proposed interventions as the “mother of all subsidies”.

Kwankwaso said the party would do everything within its power to ease the hardship facing Nigerians and improve their living conditions. (Channels TV)