2027 presidential aspirant and National Leader of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has said he would immediately reverse the removal of petrol subsidy and restore the value of the Naira if elected president in the 2027 general election.
Sowore made the remarks during an interview from 21:07 on Channels Television on Monday, May 11, 2026, while responding to questions on policies introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that he would reverse upon assumption of office.
The interviewer noted that different administrations approach governance differently and asked Sowore to identify specific decisions taken by the current administration which he strongly disagreed with and would reverse immediately if elected president.
Responding to the question, Sowore identified the removal of petrol subsidy as one of the first policies he would overturn: “One of the things I’ll reverse first is subsidy for petrol. We must have something to give to the people that can help them sustain, not just their businesses, but sustain themselves.”
He described the removal of subsidy as one of the harshest policies introduced by the current administration. “I think that was a terrible decision, one of the most anti-people decisions that he took, arrogantly on assumption of power,” Sowore stated.
He further argued that the subsidy system itself was not the problem, but corruption surrounding its implementation: “I will restore subsidy, especially for gasoline, because it’s central to the existence of millions and millions of Nigerians, and I know what to do about it. What has destroyed subsidy is corruption. It is not the idea itself, and you can’t find any country in the world where there is no subsidy.”
Sowore also referenced developments in the United States while defending government intervention in economic matters. “The U.S. went and started war in Iran, and when prices went up, the country’s economy was tanking, and they had to intervene by providing subsidy, grants, and support to the general populace,” he said.
The AAC leader also promised to restore what he described as the real value of the Nigerian currency. “I would also ensure that I provide, well, I won’t say provide, but I restore the real value of the Naira,” he stated.
According to him, there was no economic justification for the sharp depreciation of the Naira in recent years. “There was no basis for the Naira to have jumped from 400 Naira to 1,500, but I know the reason why,” Sowore said.
He added, “It is because they were rigging it. They were rigging it in their own interest, because the easiest source of wealth for the political and the economic class in Nigeria, these capitalist people, is flipping the Naira for dollars.”
He alleged that members of the political and economic elite manipulate fluctuations in the foreign exchange market for profit. “So they know how to do that, and when you see that the value of Naira increases, they buy. I mean, when it decreases, they buy, and then they will increase it, and they sell. Easy way to make money. You don’t need to build any factories,” he added….Read_More…