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• Says petrol can sell for N200-N300
Former Cross River State governor and 2027 presidential candidate of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has cautioned Nigeria against uncritically adopting prescriptions of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) on petrol subsidy, arguing that developed economies also subsidise essential sectors to protect their citizens and keep their economies productive.
Duke, who has consistently challenged the conventional argument around petrol subsidy in Nigeria, said the country should instead exploit its crude oil endowment to provide affordable energy and stimulate economic production.
“Don’t follow the Bretton Woods institutions—the World Bank and IMF—when they tell you that subsidy is why you are poor.
“They subsidise food because they have to keep their people productive. Whatever keeps your people alive and you have in abundance, use it.”
He spoke during an interview in Abuja against the backdrop of renewed controversy over former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s declaration that he would restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027.
Duke maintained that Nigeria’s fundamental problem was not subsidy but the pricing of crude meant for domestic consumption at international market rates.
“I don’t believe there is a subsidy. I have said it at several forums. This oil is our own. It belongs to all of us. It is our commonwealth. Don’t look at the price of the oil in the international market,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria requires about 300,000 barrels of crude daily for domestic consumption from estimated production of about 1.7 million barrels, leaving the bulk available for sale on the international market.
“We produce about 1.7 million barrels. About 1.4 million barrels we sell commercially. This 300,000 barrels, look at the cost of production, not the international price.
“While we sell oil at $70 or $80 a barrel, the cost of production may not exceed $40 a barrel. That barrel has about seven by-products.”
Duke argued that crude supplied for domestic refining should be sold at its production cost, with a reasonable margin added, rather than benchmarked against the international price.
He said revenues from diesel, aviation fuel, kerosene and other products obtained from the same barrel could substantially offset the cost of petrol.
“Give it to us at the cost of production, not at the market price. Take into cognisance the cost of refining and distribution and put five or 10 per cent above it.
“Sell the five other by-products from a barrel of crude at commercial rates. You will find that you can easily amortise the petrol and give it to your people at N200 or N300.”
The former governor said affordable energy should be treated as one of Nigeria’s economic advantages and deployed to stimulate production rather than viewed principally as a source of government revenue.
“Why is it important? That is what drives your economy. That is what drives the country. You have got to use what you have to get what you want,” he said.
Duke also rejected the argument that cheaper petrol would encourage smuggling into neighbouring countries, saying the government should strengthen border enforcement rather than make Nigerians bear the consequences of its inability to police the borders.
“Are you going to punish your people because you cannot police your borders?” he asked.
“You can dye your petrol. You can say petrol from Nigeria is purple, blue, yellow or red. It does not affect the engine. If you find that colour of petrol in Chad or Niger, you know it came from Nigeria. Your security agencies should find out how it got there.”
His comments come amid renewed political disagreement over petrol subsidy, with President Bola Tinubu defending its removal in May 2023 as necessary to prevent economic collapse, while Atiku has pledged to restore a form of subsidy if elected in 2027.
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has maintained that although the old subsidy regime was unsustainable, its removal should have been gradual, with the proceeds transparently invested in programmes that directly improve citizens’ welfare.
Duke, however, insisted that Nigeria must interrogate the concept of subsidy itself and determine whether an oil-producing country should price crude consumed domestically on exactly the same basis as crude exported for profit.
“I am not saying sell it at a loss. Sell it at the cost of production and add maybe 10 per cent.
“That subsidy issue has to be revisited, and we have to understand what subsidy really means,” he said.
