…Says Deregulation Prevents Arbitrary Price Reduction, Dismisses Atiku’s Subsidy Proposal
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has said the average price of petrol in Nigeria remains lower than in the United States and some African countries despite the removal of the subsidy.
CDA News Nigeria reports that Lokpobiri stated this on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, while defending the Federal Government’s deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector amid concerns over high petrol prices.
CDA News Nigeria gathered that the minister argued that petrol in Nigeria was cheaper than in the United States, Cameroon, Ghana, and South Africa. “In the US, the average, you know, litre of fuel is N1,633. In Nigeria, it’s an average of N1,430. If you go to Cameroon, it’s N1,959. If you go to Ghana, it’s N2,070. If you go to South Africa, it’s N2,070. So Nigeria’s average cost of fuel per litre is still lower,” he said.
Lokpobiri said the Tinubu administration does not have the power to reduce or increase the price of petrol because the downstream sector has been fully deregulated in line with global best standards. “Crude oil and refined products are a global business. Nigeria doesn’t exist in isolation. You cannot arbitrarily reduce prices unless you want to roll back to subsidy,” he said.
The minister also dismissed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s call for a production subsidy, saying it had no legal, fiscal, or financial basis. He noted that even the United States, one of the world’s largest oil producers with extensive refining capacity, sells fuel at prices higher than Nigeria’s average pump price.
The comments came as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other marketers began reducing their depot prices following a decline in international crude oil prices. Dangote cut its petrol depot price from N1,350 to N1,325 per litre, while other marketers reduced prices in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Warri. Despite the reductions, petrol was still selling at between N1,370 and N1,450 per litre in some locations.
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Byline: By CDA News Nigeria Correspondent
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