Vice President Kashim Shettima has berated Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress’ 2027 presidential candidate, for advocating the return of fuel subsidy amid the hardship confronting Nigerians.

Mr Shettima, who spoke on Monday at the Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, accused Mr Abubakar of attempting to return Nigerians to penury.

“One of the leading presidential candidates is advocating for the return of the subsidy scheme. He wants us to backslide into penury for political convenience,” the vice president said.

Mr Shettima further accused Mr Abubakar of lacking the capacity to govern Nigeria.

He added, “I dare to put forward that his skill set — he was trained in sanitation at the Kano School of Hygiene — so he doesn’t have the skill set to govern a modern economy. That’s the painful truth.”

He urged Nigerians to scrutinise the qualifications of political leaders before making decisions, warning against ignoring the implications of their choices.

“Nigerians must have to decide and those of you here cannot afford to play the ostrich,” he added.

Mr Abubakar has made fuel subsidy a front-burner issue ahead of the 2027 elections, vowing to restore the subsidy regime and claiming that the money saved from its removal by President Bola Tinubu had been “stolen”.

“I didn’t oppose the removal of subsidy. But where is the money? The money gotten should have been used to tackle poverty, out-of-school children and other things.

“Where is the money? They stole it. I will return fuel subsidy. The big thing was that they removed the subsidy, but where is the money? Even if I removed subsidy, I would still work,” the former vice president said.