Northwest ADC Governorship Candidates Demand Return of Fuel Subsidy

By Nafiu Muhammad Lema

Governorship candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) across the seven Northwest states have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to restore the fuel subsidy, arguing that its removal has deepened the cost-of-living crisis and worsened economic hardship across the region.

The candidates from Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara and Jigawa made the demand on Tuesday in Abuja while signing the Northwest ADC Governorship Candidates’ Compact 2027–2031, a joint policy framework outlining their priorities ahead of the 2027 elections.

The Compact was presented by the ADC governorship candidate in Kebbi State and former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Malam Abubakar Malami, SAN.

The candidates declared their support for the position of the ADC presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on the restoration of the fuel subsidy, describing it as an immediate intervention needed to cushion the impact of rising living costs.

Malami said the region was facing severe economic pressure and argued that restoring the subsidy would help prevent more Nigerians from falling into extreme poverty.

“We, the ADC Governorship Candidates of the seven Northwest States, hereby declare our total support for the promise made by the ADC Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to restore the subsidy as one of the immediate steps to halt the further slide of our people into abject poverty,” Malami said.

The candidates alleged that the removal of the subsidy had substantially increased the financial burden on households, while the anticipated benefits of the policy had yet to translate into meaningful improvements in the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

They also criticised the performance of APC-led governments in the Northwest, claiming that the substantial allocations received from the Federation Account had not produced corresponding improvements in infrastructure, healthcare, food security and security.

According to the candidates, the seven Northwest states and their local government areas received more than N8.33 trillion in allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) between June 2023 and August 2026.

Despite the funds, they alleged that poverty and poor living conditions remained widespread across the region.

The ADC candidates also criticised what they described as extravagant lifestyles among some political office holders, alleging a growing disparity between the living conditions of government officials and those of ordinary citizens.

On insecurity, the candidates claimed that more than 16,000 people had been killed across the Northwest between June 2023 and August 2026, while more than 1,583 kidnapping incidents had reportedly affected over 10,000 residents since January 2023.

They said the security crisis had also severely disrupted agriculture, alleging that more than 533,000 hectares of farmland in Zamfara and Katsina states had been abandoned because of insecurity.

The candidates further claimed that the Northwest accounts for about 45 per cent of Nigeria’s out-of-school children.

“Insecurity has emptied our farms, and those empty farms have brought hunger, driven our children out of the classroom, and have denied them the education the region requires to dry up the recruitment pool for future banditry, kidnappings and all associated crimes,” they said.

As part of their proposed security strategy, the candidates pledged to deploy drones across the region and establish a Northwest Regional Security Coordination Centre, supported by technology-driven surveillance and rapid-response networks across the 21 senatorial districts.

On workers’ welfare, they promised to introduce a N110,000 minimum wage across the seven Northwest states if elected.

The candidates identified five major areas of focus in the Compact: agriculture and food security, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and youth and enterprise development.

Their proposals include the creation of protected agricultural corridors and a regional grain reserve, greater access to Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) interventions, integration of Almajiri and Tsangaya children into formal education, and improved access to the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).

They also proposed establishing specialist hospitals in each of the 21 senatorial districts, alongside investments in roads, rail transportation and independent power generation.

For young people, the candidates pledged to establish a Regional Youth Fund and expand Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes to promote employment and entrepreneurship.

While advocating greater regional cooperation, the candidates stressed that the individual states would retain their constitutional powers over budgets, procurement, civil service and other internal affairs.

“We will cooperate where cooperation works better. We will preserve the constitutional authority and priorities of our states. We will plan before we promise. We will publish what we deliver,” they declared.

The Compact also provided for the establishment of three coordinating structures: a Central Coordination Committee chaired by Hon. Abdussamad Dasuki; a Technical Committee chaired by Maj. Gen. Aminu Bande (retd.) and co-chaired by Prof. Sadiq Abubakar; and a Media and Strategic Communications Committee co-chaired by Salihu Tanko Yakasai.

The document was signed by Sabo Mohammed Nakudu of Jigawa, Isa Mohammed Ashiru of Kaduna, Ibrahim Ali Amin of Kano, Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita of Katsina, Abubakar Malami, SAN, of Kebbi, Manir Muhammad Dan’iya of Sokoto, and Bilyaminu Shinkafi of Zamfara.