• HURIWA says N1,370 pump price offers no relief
• Agbakoba urges presidential candidates to state positions on petrol pricing

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, has said the Federal Government’s fuel price relief initiative through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) should not be interpreted as a reversal of petroleum subsidy removal, describing it as a temporary intervention to cushion the impact of the global energy crisis.
  
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) criticised the Federal Government’s 30-day petrol discount initiative, describing the N66 per-litre reduction as inadequate relief for Nigerians struggling with rising fuel prices and the cost of living.
  
In his part, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr Olisa Agbakoba, has urged presidential candidates in the 2027 general election to publicly declare their positions on petroleum pricing, describing fuel costs as a potentially decisive issue for voters.

In a policy brief issued yesterday, Yusuf said the recent escalation in petroleum product prices was driven principally by developments in the global energy market, particularly geopolitical tensions that had pushed crude oil prices above $100 per barrel.
  
He argued that the price surge was an external shock affecting both oil-producing and oil-importing economies and was neither a consequence of Nigeria’s subsidy removal policy nor peculiar to the country.
  
Extraordinary economic circumstances, he noted, sometimes require exceptional policy responses, adding that governments worldwide had intervened to protect households and businesses from severe external shocks without abandoning their underlying economic management frameworks.
  
According to him, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that even advanced market economies could adopt temporary interventions to address exceptional economic difficulties.
  
Yusuf said the reported figures indicate that the intervention covered approximately 70 million litres of NNPCL fuel supply per month, compared with an estimated national petrol consumption of 50 million litres per day.

He said the initiative did not reinstate a nationally administered petrol price, impose a general subsidy obligation on private operators, or dismantle the market-oriented framework for petroleum product pricing.

HURIWA said the discount was insignificant when petrol still sold for about N1,370 per litre, arguing that the price remained beyond the reach of many low-income households, commercial drivers and small businesses.
  
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA described the initiative as a publicity stunt that created an impression of government concern without addressing the scale of economic hardship facing citizens.
  
“A N66 discount on petrol selling at N1,370 per litre is no economic relief; it is a cruel joke on Nigerians who are struggling to survive,” the association said.
  
It argued that a government genuinely concerned about citizens’ welfare should pursue substantial, accessible price reductions rather than present marginal adjustments as a major achievement.
  
Petrol prices above N500 per litre, he emphasised, remained unaffordable for many low-income earners, adding that the current discount did little to ease the burden of transportation and other essential expenses.

Agbakoba, in a statement yesterday, noted that the rising cost of living had reached a critical point and would be a defining issue in the 2027 elections.
  
In his ‘Statement to the Presidential Candidates on Petroleum Pricing and the Cost of Living’, he noted that the removal of the petrol subsidy in 2023 left pump prices at the mercy of refinery costs and landing costs of imported petroleum products rather than fixed government prices.
  
He said: “Nigeria removed its petrol subsidy in 2023, and pump prices now move with refinery and import landing costs rather than being fixed by the government. 
  
“The effect has been steep. In January, NNPCL sold petrol at N835 per litre in Lagos and N839 in Abuja. NNPCL Retail’s regular price in Abuja is now N1,405, while stations backed by the Dangote refinery and independent marketers are selling at N1,405 to N1,409.”
  
Dangote Petroleum Refinery, he added, raised its gantry price to N1,350 per litre on September 12, its fourth increase since late August, before a N25 cut later that month.