Four prominent opposition voices have come out against the Federal Government's 30-day petrol discount plan, questioning its scope, timing, and long-term impact on Nigerian consumers.
What the Federal Government Announced
Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele announced on Thursday that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited would sell petrol at cost price by temporarily giving up its profit margin at stations nationwide. The Punch reported that the Presidency said the move, backed by President Bola Tinubu, was designed to ease the pressure of global crude oil price shocks on households and did not amount to a restoration of the fuel subsidy scrapped on May 29, 2023. Transport operators were listed as the priority group for the discount.
Atiku Calls It a 'Panic-Driven Publicity Stunt'
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, through a statement from the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council's Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, dismissed the policy as a "panic-driven publicity stunt." Atiku raised three specific concerns: the restriction of the discount to NNPC filling stations, the absence of a confirmed per-litre figure, and the lack of any guarantee that transport operators would pass the savings on to commuters. He also questioned what would follow once the 30 days elapsed.
Obidient Movement Questions the Timing
The Obidient Movement linked the announcement to the approaching 2027 general elections. In a statement by its Director of Media and Communications, Onyeka D!ke, the group asked why it had taken the government more than three years after removing the fuel subsidy to introduce any measure aimed at bringing petrol prices down for ordinary Nigerians.
NDC Calls It a 'Greek Gift'
The Nigeria Democratic Congress went further, rejecting the intervention outright and describing it as "tokenism and a Greek gift from a government that whimsically removed fuel subsidy without proper consideration, consultation, or cushions for Nigerians." The party argued that the policy offered little real relief given the scale of economic hardship Nigerians had endured since subsidy removal.
Makinde's APM Campaign: 'Deceptive and Inadequate'
The Allied Peoples Movement Presidential Campaign Organisation of Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde also rejected the plan. In a statement by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, the campaign described the intervention as deceptive and called the estimated N60-per-litre discount insignificant when measured against the cumulative increases in petrol prices since May 2023.
Mixed Verdicts from Energy Experts
Energy experts offered divided assessments. Some acknowledged the short-term relief the discount could provide, particularly for low-income commuters, while others cautioned that the arrangement risked functioning as an undeclared subsidy if the financial burden on NNPC was not clearly accounted for and disclosed to the public.
