Donald Duke, the former Cross River State governor and presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) for the 2027 elections, has pledged to reduce petrol prices to approximately N300 per litre if he wins the presidency. Speaking on Channels Television's Morning Brief on Wednesday, October 7, Duke criticised President Bola Tinubu's economic management and detailed his alternative approach to the petroleum sector.
Duke's Critique of Current Petrol Pricing
Duke argued that pricing petroleum products for Nigerian consumers at international market rates is unjust, especially for low-income earners. He described the existing subsidy framework as a deception and insisted that local consumption should be priced according to production costs rather than global market prices.
"The subsidy regime thing, this whole thing is a scam. I'm going to price petroleum products for local consumption at production costs, not at international market costs," Duke said.
He provided a breakdown of the numbers to support his position: "I'm giving you a production cost of $45, right? The international price, that's $45, including processing, refining, otherwise, it's about $30, and you're selling it back to your own people at 100 and something dollars."
Duke asserted that the current cost of fuel is crushing ordinary Nigerians, noting that the basic minimum wage is N70,000. "You don't want them to breathe, and your people are notably the poorest in the world. They can't afford it. The basic minimum wage is 70,000 naira. Your salary will go in just filling a tank of fuel," he added.
Duke's Plan to Achieve N300 per Litre
When pressed on a realistic target price, Duke confirmed N300 per litre as his goal. "I will try and bring it to about 300 naira. I've told you that it sounds so outlandish, but I've given you the arithmetic," he said.
His strategy involves splitting Nigeria's crude oil output into two streams: one for domestic use and another for international sale. He proposed allocating 600,000 barrels per day for local consumption and exporting the remainder. "Allocate 600,000 barrels if that's what you consume daily. Allocate that to yourself. The other one million you can sell it," Duke explained.
Nigeria produces an average of 1.68 million barrels of crude oil per day, according to industry data. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has stated that the country consumes roughly 60.2 million litres of petrol daily.
Context and Previous Reports on Petrol Imports
Duke said this pricing model would alleviate the financial burden of fuel costs on Nigerians and would be a central part of his economic agenda ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a related development, Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigeria experienced a significant drop in daily petrol imports in August 2026, as local refineries increased supply to the domestic market. Data from the NMDPRA showed a 26% decline in daily petrol imports during the month, with imported supply falling from 19.7 million litres per day in July to 14.6 million litres per day in August.
