The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has warned that any attempt to restore fuel subsidy could reduce government revenue and disrupt ongoing development projects across Northern Nigeria.
Yilwatda spoke on Monday while receiving former African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidates who defected to the APC after withdrawing from various State House of Assembly contests in the North.
The APC chairman questioned how the government would sustain major infrastructure and development programmes if fuel subsidy were restored.
“The Hausa radio stations tell us that they will return the subsidy. I keep asking: How are they going to return the subsidy?” Yilwatda said.
“Do you mean they will stop all these road constructions because they want to return the subsidy? Because there will be no money for these constructions?”
He cited ongoing federal road projects including the Abuja-Kano and Kano-Maiduguri corridors as evidence of continued investment in the region.
Yilwatda also questioned whether subsidy restoration would affect gas development, fertiliser supply, compressed natural gas (CNG) initiatives and student loan programmes.
“The gas they are bringing to the North will come with fertiliser, and we in the North need that fertiliser to farm. Do you mean they should stop it?” he asked.
“Should most of our people who cannot afford school fees go back to being wheelbarrow pushers in the villages?”
Defending the administration’s record in the North, Yilwatda rejected claims that the region had been neglected, listing road projects linking Abuja-Kano, Kano-Maiduguri, Jos-Akwanga, Sokoto-Kebbi, Kano-Daura and Zaria-Danja.
He also argued that the removal of fuel subsidy had improved the financial position of states, recalling that several states, particularly in the North, previously struggled to meet salary obligations before the Tinubu administration.
The comments came as the APC received former ADC candidates into its ranks ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The defectors, led by Princess Aslam Aliyu, popularly known as Gimbiyar Kauran Namoda, said they joined the APC to contribute to the ruling party’s development agenda.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Mohammed Hassan, an ADC candidate from Zamfara State, said their decision was aimed at supporting President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“We are not here merely to change the political platform, but to begin a new chapter of service and make a great contribution to our people,” Hassan said.
Yilwatda urged the defectors to return to their respective states and local government areas and help strengthen the APC’s structures ahead of the 2027 elections.
