Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the Obidient Movement, the Nigeria Democratic Congress and the presidential campaign organisation of Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde have rejected the Federal Government’s proposed 30-day petrol discount, describing the intervention as inadequate and politically motivated.
The Federal Government, however, announced on Thursday that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited would forgo its retail profit margin on petrol and sell the product to Nigerians at a discounted cost as part of measures to cushion households from global crude oil price shocks.
The Presidency said the arrangement, backed by President Bola Tinubu, did not signal a return to the petrol subsidy regime, which ended on May 29, 2023.
Energy experts, however, expressed mixed reactions, with some welcoming the temporary relief while others warned that the intervention could amount to another form of subsidy if its costs were not transparently managed.
Discounted fuel
The reactions followed Thursday’s announcement by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, that NNPC Limited would offer discounted petrol at its filling stations nationwide for 30 days, with priority given to public transport operators.
Oyedele said the intervention would enable NNPC to sell petrol at cost by temporarily forgoing its profit margins, rather than restoring the subsidy regime removed in May 2023.
“We are offering a discount on petrol dispensed by NNPC Limited for the next 30 days, with priority for public transporters nationwide,” he said.
Opposition reacts
In a statement issued by the Director of Strategic Communication of the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the intervention as a “panic-driven publicity stunt”.
“Atiku totally rejects this calendar-scheduled, election-laced subsidy package. Nigerians are not fools to be offered a month of discounted fuel after years of punishing prices and then expected to forget the hardship when the discount expires. This is shameless and heartless,” the statement read.
The former Vice-President questioned the sustainability of the initiative and what would happen after the 30-day period.
“What happens on Day 31? Nigerians wake up to the same brutal prices, the same punishing transport fares and the same rising cost of food. The government cannot manufacture relief for one month and expect Nigerians to applaud while the hardship remains,” he said.
Atiku also questioned the restriction of the discount to NNPC stations, as well as the absence of a confirmed amount per litre and guarantees that transport operators would pass the savings on to passengers.
He maintained that the intervention vindicated his proposal for production support tied to locally refined petrol.
“This volte-face proves that the production-support proposal I have advanced is workable, achievable and not complicated. The Tinubu government and its spin doctors have tried to make it sound impossible, yet they are now reaching for a temporary subsidy-style intervention because the pain has become impossible to ignore,” Atiku said.
He reiterated his proposal for capped and budgeted production support for domestically refined petrol, with safeguards to ensure that consumers benefit.
“Nigerians need lasting relief, not a countdown to the return of hardship. Tinubu’s government cannot spend years telling Nigerians to endure, then offer 30 days of relief and call it a solution,” he said.
Atiku added, “Tinubu made life expensive. I will make life affordable again.”
Similarly, the Obidient Movement questioned the timing of the intervention, suggesting that it was linked to the approaching 2027 general elections.
In a statement by its Director of Media and Communications, Onyeka Dike, the movement questioned why the government had waited more than three years after subsidy removal before introducing measures to reduce petrol prices.
“For three years, Tinubu told Nigerians that the ‘baby steps of pain’ were necessary. Now, suddenly, a petrol discount is possible. So, what changed?” Dike asked.
He further queried, “Did subsidy suddenly become good because Peter Obi said he would restore it? Why the desperation as elections approach?”
Dike argued that Nigerians had endured high petrol prices, increased taxes, rising tuition fees and escalating food costs since the subsidy was removed.
“The pains were never necessary. They were policy choices,” he said.
The movement urged Nigerians not to be swayed by temporary relief measures, insisting that the country required sustainable access to affordable fuel, food and education.
“Three years of suffering cannot be erased by 30 days of petrol discount,” Dike added.
The NDC also rejected the intervention, describing it as “tokenism and a Greek gift from a government that whimsically removed fuel subsidy without proper consideration, consultation, or cushions for Nigerians.”
Its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, argued that the discount would not address the economic consequences of subsidy removal, including job losses and business closures.
“Nigerians cannot be deceived,” he said.
Director questioned whether NNPC filling stations could adequately serve the population, warning that the arrangement could create congestion and stampedes.
“The attempt to reintroduce petrol subsidy through the backdoor is not only mischievous but a sign of a government in free fall, ready to clutch at anything to survive,” he said.
The party urged Nigerians to support Peter Obi and other NDC candidates in the 2027 elections, declaring, “A New Nigeria is POssible with Obi.”
Also reacting, Makinde’s Allied Peoples Movement Presidential Campaign Organisation described the intervention as deceptive and inadequate.
In a statement issued by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, the campaign criticised what it described as a N60-per-litre discount, arguing that the amount was insignificant compared with previous increases in petrol prices.
“It is a slap in the face of the suffering citizens that at the time they expected an impactful reduction in the astronomically high pump price of petrol, the Tinubu government came out on national media to announce an infinitesimal and ‘microscopic’ discount of N60,” the statement read.
The organisation questioned why the government had introduced a marginal reduction after substantial increases in petrol prices.
“The question is, why is it that the Tinubu administration that is so quick in carrying out geometric increase in the price of petrol by up to 733% is now embarking on arithmetic ratio in decrease with a teeny N60 in a desperate attempt to score a cheap political point just because elections are around the corner,” it stated.
It further argued that limiting the intervention to NNPC filling stations for one month demonstrated the administration’s inability to address rising living costs.
“The fact that the minuscule reduction will only be on scantly located NNPC-owned retail filling stations and for a period of one month clearly shows that the Tinubu administration has come to its wits’ end and become bereft of solutions,” the campaign said.
It maintained that Nigerians would not be swayed by the announcement ahead of the elections.
“What Nigerians desired and deserve is an impactful reduction in fuel price and not this dishonest act to hoodwink citizens ahead of the 2027 general elections,” it added.