Petrol price hike: ‘T-pain’ is undisturbed by hardship in Nigeria, says Atiku

Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, says President Bola Tinubu is undisturbed by the hardship in Nigeria.

In a statement on Thursday via X, Atiku described Tinubu as ‘T-pain’ and said the handling of petrol subsidy by his administration caused the current economic crisis in Nigeria.

T-pain is the stage name of Faheem Najm, a singer in the United States.

‘T-pain’ in Nigeria’s social media space is coined from ‘Tinubu’ and ‘pain’ — and has been deployed as the president’s moniker due to the pervasive economic hardship.

Abubakar’s statement followed the increase in petrol price by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited on Wednesday.

NNPC increased the pump price in its retail stations in Lagos to N998 per litre, while the company’s outlets in Abuja raised the price to N1,003.

The hike in petrol price has led to criticisms, with the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) saying the decision will worsen inflation.

A day after the increase, Abubakar said inflation rate will not reduce due to the handling of the petrol subsidy.

“The haphazard and disingenuous approach of the current administration to fuel subsidy management has been the reason we are in this current economic crisis in the country,” Abubakar said.

“As things stand, there will be no let up in the escalating inflation rate, which is drowning the material well-being of Nigerians.

“It is even more worrying that T-pain is undisturbed by the hardship in the country.”

According to the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), the hike is due to the difficulty in landing the petrol.

Billy Gillis-Harry, PETROAN president, said other factors in landing petroleum products must also be considered, such as the costs involved in transporting products from various depots to retail outlets and the additional charges that arise without clearly defined regulations.