Presidency Drags Atiku Over Subsidy "Flip-Flopping," Nigerians Ask Who's Keeping Records

So the Presidency has once again turned its attention to Atiku, this time accusing him of flip-flopping on petrol subsidy, one day against it, one day for it, depending on which microphone is closest. And honestly, at this point, somebody needs to open a spreadsheet, because tracking Nigerian politicians' subsidy positions has become its own full-time job.

The accusation is that Atiku keeps changing his stance depending on what's convenient, which, fair point, except this is coming from a government that has changed its own subsidy story more times than a Nollywood script goes through rewrites. First it was "subsidy must go," then it was "subsidy is gone," then it became "see the palliatives," then it quietly became "please understand the reforms are working," and now here they are, calling somebody else inconsistent with a straight face.

This is the real Nigerian political sport, not football, not basketball, "who changed their position last." Everybody's holding receipts, nobody's holding themselves to the same standard, and the only consistent thing in the entire debate is that fuel price never actually goes back down, no matter who's right in the argument.

Meanwhile, the average Nigerian is not checking anybody's 2019 interview to confirm consistency. They're checking the pump price this morning versus last month, and by that measurement, everybody in this argument is failing the real test.

Atiku's camp will probably respond soon, calling the Presidency "distracted" and "running from real issues," which, to be fair, is also true, because nothing unites Nigerian politicians faster than a chance to argue about someone else's past statements instead of explaining their own current plan.

By next week, this particular round of subsidy Olympics will fade, only to return the moment fuel prices move again, because in Nigeria, the price changes, but the argument, somehow, never does.