Newsone Nigeria reports that the former Vice President and 2023 Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the fuel subsidy crisis, referring to him as “TPain”.
Atiku, who called Tinubu “TPain” in a post on the micro-blogging site, X formerly known as Twitter on Thursday, October 10, 2024, attributed Nigeria’s current economic challenges to what he described as the “haphazard and disingenuous approach” of the Tinubu administration to fuel subsidy management.
The former Vice President expressed concern about the escalating inflation rate, stating that it is severely impacting the lives of Nigerians. He lamented that despite the growing hardships, Tinubu appears unfazed by the plight of the citizens.
“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.
“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,” Atiku wrote on X formerly known as Twitter.
On Wednesday, petroleum marketers said the Nigerian government led by President Tinubu completely removed the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), which is the reason the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited increased the price of the product to N1,030 and N998 per litre in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, and Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial city.
“It is a price template that shows that the total deregulation of the oil and gas sector and the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act have taken off,” the spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, disclosed this in an interview on Wednesday.
“With this, I don’t think there is anything like a subsidy on petroleum products now. NNPCL is now selling as they are buying from Dangote Refinery. NNPCL is no longer a middleman for oil marketers. Marketers are to buy petrol products from Dangote Refinery. It has become a willing buyer, selling relationship. We are embracing the new NNPCL price template,” he opined.
Meanwhile, Newsone understands that the nickname “TPain” given to Tinubu on social media by Nigerians, emerged as a play on the first letter of his name and the name of American rapper and producer T-Pain, came as a result of frustrations over the rising cost of living under his administration.
Referring to President Tinubu as TPain on social media dates back to April 2024, however, it gained significant traction around September 16, after a user on X used it while discussing the President’s visit to Maiduguri to console flood victims.
When this reporter filed this report T-Pain was topping the Nigerian Twitter trends.
The term has also gained traction on another social media platform, Instagram.