The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC) has challenged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to explain the legal and fiscal basis of his proposal to introduce a production subsidy for locally refined petrol.

The council said Atiku’s proposal, which he reiterated at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, raised important questions about its compatibility with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, its cost to government and the mechanism through which it would translate into lower pump prices for consumers.

In a statement issued on Sunday by its spokesman, Dele Alake, the APC-PCC cited Section 205(1) of the PIA, which provides for unrestricted free-market conditions to determine wholesale and retail prices of petroleum products.

The council also referred to a recent statement by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), which said it does not fix pump prices or issue administrative price templates except where statutory conditions for intervention are met.

The APC-PCC therefore asked Atiku to clarify whether refineries benefiting from his proposed subsidy would be required to sell petrol at a prescribed price and, if so, identify the legal framework that would enable government to impose such a condition.

It also questioned how the proposed subsidy would guarantee lower pump prices if refiners were not subjected to enforceable pricing conditions, arguing that refiners could receive government support while consumers continued to pay market prices.

The council further demanded details of the financial implications of the proposal, saying that any preferential pricing of crude oil for domestic refineries would reduce the value accruing to the Federation and affect revenues available to the federal, state and local governments.

According to the APC-PCC, depending on the subsidy rate, volume covered and other assumptions, the cost of the proposed intervention could run into trillions of naira annually. It consequently asked Atiku to disclose the proposed subsidy rate, annual spending ceiling, volume of crude or petrol covered and source of funding.

The council also sought clarification on safeguards against diversion, smuggling and fraudulent claims, as well as whether amendments to the PIA would be required to implement the proposal.

The APC-PCC said Atiku’s latest position also needed to be reconciled with his previous support for downstream deregulation. It recalled that in November 2022, Atiku described the petrol subsidy system as fraudulent and pledged to complete its removal, before announcing on August 25, 2026, that he would “restore it.”

The council argued that President Bola Tinubu’s administration was instead pursuing alternative measures to reduce transportation costs through compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric mass transit, while expanding domestic refining capacity under a deregulated petroleum market.

It cited CNG and electric bus services in several states and the Federal Capital Territory as examples of efforts it said were already reducing transport fares, adding that more than 120,000 vehicles had been converted to CNG.

The APC-PCC acknowledged the pressure caused by high petrol prices but maintained that any intervention in the downstream sector must be lawful, transparent, properly costed and capable of delivering measurable benefits to consumers.

It urged Atiku to publish a detailed policy document alongside independent legal and fiscal analyses of his proposal. The council said that until such details were provided, the plan remained an uncosted proposal without a clearly identified legal or operational framework.