The National Association of Nigerian Students has urged Nigerians, particularly youths, to reject calls for the return of the fuel subsidy regime.

NANS National President, Babatunde Akinteye, made the call on Tuesday in Akure while speaking at a youth summit sponsored by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.

Akinteye said Nigeria had operated the subsidy regime for about four decades, during which it became financially unsustainable.

He said rather than advocating a return to subsidy payments, Nigerians should demand transparency and accountability in the management of savings generated from its removal.

The NANS president said the funds saved should be channelled into projects and programmes that directly benefit Nigerians.

He recalled that Nigerians continued to experience fuel scarcity during the subsidy era despite the huge amounts spent by successive governments on subsidy payments.

Akinteye also attributed recent increases in petrol prices partly to the Iran-US conflict, noting that prices had begun to decline before the conflict.

He warned that restoring the subsidy would place an unsustainable financial burden on the country and questioned the source of funding for such payments.

The student leader said previous administrations had sometimes relied on borrowing to finance fuel subsidies and other recurrent expenditure.

He urged political leaders proposing a return to subsidy to instead present practical plans for using savings from its removal to improve the welfare of Nigerians.

Akinteye cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as one of the programmes that had benefited students since the subsidy removal.

He maintained that the focus should remain on ensuring that subsidy savings are prudently managed for national development rather than returning to a policy he described as unsustainable.