Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has reaffirmed his support for the removal of petrol subsidy, arguing that the mismanagement of funds saved from the policy is no justification for reversing it.

Obi spoke on Monday at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

“I subscribe and maintain that you need to remove subsidy. Mismanagement of the proceeds shouldn’t be the reason for not removing it,” Obi said.

The former Anambra State governor said the government had reported recovering about N16 trillion from subsidy removal but alleged the funds had not been deployed effectively.

“What we have today is that that removal and the attendant resources being recovered is also being mismanaged and stolen,” Obi stated. “For example, we have received, according to them, N16 trillion.”

He argued that just five percent of that amount – approximately N800 billion – could establish primary healthcare centres in every ward across the country.

“The number one thing a nation needs to develop is health. But today, our health is very poor, our primary care is very poor. We have more maternal and child issues than countries like India,” Obi said.

He also cited kidney care as a critical area neglected. Obi claimed over 25 million Nigerians have kidney issues, with fewer than 200 treatment centres and less than 800 dialysis machines available against a need for 5,000. A single kidney centre costs N200 million to build, he said, while one dialysis machine costs N10 million.

Obi said his leadership blueprint had envisioned removing the subsidy “in an organised manner”, with recovered funds invested directly in projects that benefit ordinary Nigerians.

“Go to my manifesto, I said it before, I said I will do it in an organised manner and whatever we recover would be invested appropriately,” he said.

He proposed an alternative approach: adding the savings to the sovereign wealth fund. “If they had saved the money and decided to do like any other country, we would have had $10 billion added to our sovereign wealth fund, which, if you add it today, we will get about $10 billion every month, which we can use for a purpose,” Obi said.

His remarks come amid escalating debate over the subsidy’s impact since its removal at the start of President Bola Tinubu’s administration in May 2023.

Opposition figures including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar have criticised the government’s use of the funds. Atiku, who had previously supported subsidy removal, reversed course last Wednesday, pledging to restore it if elected in 2027.

President Tinubu dismissed Atiku’s proposal as showing “serious ignorance of governance and economy”, noting that before he assumed office, some states struggled to pay salaries and pensions.

The controversy follows a disclosure by Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele that subsidy removal mobilised N15.8 trillion for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025. Oyedele said the federal government received N5.4 trillion, while N10.4 trillion went to states and local governments.

“So, don’t say because people use the money they are supposed to utilise very well for party, and you say no, we should bring back,” Obi said. “People in government have asked Nigerians to fast. Okay. They cannot be feasting when Nigerians are fasting.”