Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the Obidient Movement, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and the presidential campaign organisation of Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde have criticised the Federal Government’s proposed 30-day petrol discount, describing it as inadequate, unsustainable and politically motivated ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The groups faulted the intervention, announced by the Federal Government on Thursday, arguing that a temporary reduction in petrol prices would do little to ease the prolonged economic hardship suffered by Nigerians since the removal of fuel subsidy in May 2023.
The Federal Government, however, maintained that the initiative was not a return to subsidy but a temporary measure under which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited would forgo its retail profit margin to sell petrol at a discounted price for 30 days.
The Presidency also announced plans to negotiate a N1,350-per-litre ceiling on petrol’s landing or ex-gantry cost, alongside other measures aimed at cushioning households against rising energy prices and global crude oil market volatility.
Atiku: ‘Panic-driven publicity stunt’
Atiku described the initiative as a “panic-driven publicity stunt”, questioning its sustainability and the government's decision to offer temporary relief after years of rising fuel prices and transportation costs.
In a statement issued by the Director of Strategic Communication of the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president accused the administration of attempting to score political points with a short-lived intervention.
“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,” the statement read.
He questioned what would happen after the 30-day period, arguing that Nigerians would return to the same high petrol prices, transportation fares and food costs once the intervention ended.
Atiku also faulted the restriction of the discount to NNPC filling stations, demanding clarity on the amount to be deducted per litre and safeguards to ensure that commercial transport operators transferred the savings to passengers.
The former vice-president said the initiative reinforced his argument for production support tied to locally refined petrol, rather than what he described as a temporary intervention that failed to address the underlying economic challenges.
He advocated capped and budgeted production support for domestically refined petroleum products, with appropriate safeguards to ensure that consumers benefited directly.
“Nigerians need lasting relief, not a countdown to the return of hardship,” Atiku said, adding that the government could not ask citizens to endure years of economic pain and then present 30 days of relief as a solution.
Obidient Movement questions timing
The Obidient Movement also questioned the timing of the intervention, suggesting that the approaching 2027 elections might have influenced the decision.
In a statement by its Director of Media and Communications, Onyeka Dike, the movement asked why the government had waited more than three years after subsidy removal before introducing the temporary price relief.
“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 questioned whether the administration's approach was a response to political pressure from Peter Obi, who has advocated changes to the country's petroleum pricing policy.
The movement argued that Nigerians had endured rising petrol prices, taxes, school fees and food costs since subsidy removal, insisting that the resulting hardship was driven by policy decisions that could be reconsidered.
“The pains were never necessary. They were policy choices,” Dike said.
He urged Nigerians not to be swayed by temporary relief, insisting that the country needed sustainable access to affordable fuel, food and education.
“Three years of suffering cannot be erased by 30 days of petrol discount,” he added.
NDC warns of queues, possible stampedes
The Nigeria Democratic Congress also rejected the initiative, describing it as “tokenism and a Greek gift” from a government that removed petrol subsidy without adequate consultation or measures to cushion its effects.
The party's National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, argued that the intervention would not reverse the economic consequences of subsidy removal, including job losses and business closures.
“Nigerians cannot be deceived,” he said.
Director questioned whether NNPC filling stations had sufficient capacity to serve the country's large population, warning that restricting discounted petrol sales to the company's outlets could result in congestion and stampedes.
He described the initiative as an attempt to reintroduce petrol subsidy through the back door and accused the government of resorting to short-term measures amid mounting economic pressure.
The party also urged Nigerians to support Peter Obi and other NDC candidates in the 2027 elections, declaring that a new Nigeria was possible under Obi's leadership.
Makinde's camp faults N60 discount
The presidential campaign organisation associated with Makinde also condemned the intervention, describing it as deceptive and insufficient to address the scale of increases in petrol prices.
In a statement signed by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, the organisation criticised what it described as a N60-per-litre discount, arguing that the reduction was insignificant compared with previous increases in pump 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 administration had implemented substantial increases in petrol prices but was now offering only a marginal reduction.
It also criticised the decision to limit the intervention to NNPC-owned filling stations for one month, describing it as evidence that the government had failed to provide a lasting solution to the rising cost of living.
“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,” the statement added.
Presidency: ‘Discount is not subsidy’
Despite the opposition, the Presidency insisted that the intervention was designed to provide temporary relief without reversing the deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the government said NNPC Retail would sell petrol at its landing cost for 30 days, prioritising commercial transport operators.
The statement, titled ‘NNPC Retail forgoes petrol profit margin to offer some support to Nigerian households amid global petrol crisis; FG announces additional measures’, explained that the company would temporarily surrender its retail profit margin to reduce the burden on consumers.
“This means if NNPC’s landing cost is N1,300, it will sell fuel to Nigerians, especially commercial vehicles, at the same price,” the statement said.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the government was also negotiating a ceiling of N1,350 per litre on petrol's ex-gantry or landing cost.
Under the proposed arrangement, refiners and importers would bear costs exceeding the ceiling and recover the shortfall later when crude oil prices or exchange rates improved.
Oyedele maintained that the arrangement was intended to smooth out price fluctuations rather than suppress market prices.
“This is neither a subsidy nor a price control: it is designed to smooth prices over time rather than suppressing them,” he said.
He explained that the government preferred a more stable pricing arrangement to frequent increases and reductions, noting that transportation fares often rise quickly when petrol prices increase but are slower to fall when fuel becomes cheaper.
The proposed ceiling would be reviewed monthly, with the relevant figures published to promote transparency.
Government unveils additional relief measures
Beyond the 30-day petrol discount, the Federal Government announced plans to sell crude oil forward to domestic refineries to reduce exposure to global price volatility and improve supply stability.
It also said it was working with state governments and security agencies to curb multiple road taxes and levies that increase transportation and logistics costs.
Other measures include increased funding for cash transfers to vulnerable households, subsidised credit for small businesses and consumers, and an expanded rollout of compressed natural gas-powered transportation.
According to the Presidency, CNG is between 60 and 70 per cent cheaper than petrol.
The government also said it could consider an excess-profit tax on operators found to be exploiting consumers along the energy value chain, with proceeds channelled towards transportation support or vouchers for low-income urban workers.
Additional plans include tax relief for low-income earners under the proposed 2027 Finance Bill and improved traffic management to reduce fuel consumption in major cities.
The Presidency said the measures were intended to ease economic pressure without reinstating a blanket petrol subsidy, which it argued would impose unsustainable costs on public finances.
Experts divided over intervention
Energy experts expressed mixed views on the government's initiative, with some welcoming the prospect of temporary relief while others warned that the arrangement could amount to another form of subsidy if its financing was not properly disclosed.
The Chief Executive Officer of PetroleumPrice.ng, Jeremiah Olatide, described the discount as a positive development but argued that the proposed N1,350-per-litre landing-cost ceiling remained too high for many Nigerians.
He urged the government to consider reducing the benchmark to N1,000 per litre, saying a lower threshold would provide more meaningful relief.
“For me, I think this is a good development. But the price modulation at N1,350 is quite on the high side. What the Federal Government should be looking at is N1,000 per litre at the gantry price ceiling,” Olatide said.
He added that direct intervention in petrol pricing could help stabilise prices and benefit consumers, provided the government reviewed the proposed benchmark downwards.
Similarly, Professor Emeritus of Petroleum Economics at the LAU Energy Institute, Executive Director of the Emmanuel Egbogah Foundation and Chairman of the NOGEP Forum, Wumi Iledare, said the intervention could be economically justified if it remained targeted, temporary and transparent.
Iledare said the priority should be reducing transportation costs and their effects on household expenses, logistics and consumer prices, rather than artificially keeping petrol prices low.
He supported prioritising public transport operators but stressed that the savings must be passed on to passengers through lower fares.
However, he warned that the arrangement could become another subsidy if NNPC sold petrol below its economic cost and later received government reimbursement or accumulated liabilities ultimately borne by taxpayers.
He called on the government to disclose the discount per litre, the volume of petrol covered, the source of financing, the maximum fiscal exposure and the mechanisms for ensuring that consumers benefited.
He also urged authorities to publish the financial implications of the proposed landing-cost ceiling and establish an independent audit mechanism and a clear exit plan.
“Nigeria has already paid heavily for poorly targeted petroleum subsidies. Any new intervention must therefore be transparent, fiscally capped, independently auditable, explicitly temporary, and subject to a clear exit plan,” Iledare said.
He cautioned that giving NNPC a permanent pricing advantage over other marketers could undermine competition in the downstream petroleum market.
Oyedele clarifies discount amount
Meanwhile, Oyedele clarified that the precise discount per litre had yet to be determined, explaining that NNPC would calculate the amount based on its operating costs and margins.
“I’m not saying that this margin discount will be 66. It may be more. It may be less. They’ve sent me some calculations as to how much it will cost. But they will implement the instruction of the government in this regard,” the minister said.
He stated that the intervention would be reviewed after 30 days and expressed hope that other petroleum marketers would voluntarily reduce their profit margins.
Oyedele attributed the increase in petrol prices from about N830 to an average of N1,400 per litre to the conflict in the Middle East, warning that restoring the former subsidy regime could cost the country more than N20tn annually.
He also disclosed that subsidy removal had released N15.8tn to the Federation Account between June 2023 and December 2025, while the government had waived more than N3.3tn in petrol taxes and duties between January and September 2026.
The minister maintained that the administration would continue pursuing targeted interventions, including cash transfers, subsidised credit, expanded CNG deployment and a proposed National Strategic Fuel Reserve, rather than restoring blanket petrol subsidies.
NNPC confirms implementation
The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Bayo Ojulari, confirmed that the company had commenced discounting petrol prices following approvals obtained around the October 1 Independence Day celebrations.
He said the company was prepared to prioritise economic stability and consumer welfare over immediate profitability.
The Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles, Ismael Ahmed, disclosed that approximately 120,000 vehicles had been converted to CNG, with conversion costs ranging from N230,000 to N580,000.
The Executive Secretary of the Joint Tax Board, Olusegun Adesokan, said 20 states had implemented the harmonised taxes and levies framework aimed at tackling multiple taxation.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, also disclosed that import duties on new vehicles had been reduced from 20 to 10 per cent, while duties on used vehicles had fallen from 15 to five per cent. He highlighted ongoing efforts to combat petroleum smuggling.
Minister defends subsidy removal
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, defended the removal of petrol subsidy, arguing that deregulation had encouraged private investment in domestic refining, including the Dangote Refinery.
He maintained that restoring subsidy would contravene the Petroleum Industry Act, which he said requires petroleum products to be priced according to market forces.
“So anybody who is playing politics by saying I’m putting back subsidy knows that whatever he wants to do is already illegal,” Lokpobiri said.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the government's economic reforms were intended to strengthen public finances and improve living standards, while acknowledging that more work was needed to ensure Nigerians felt the benefits.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Raymond Omachi, called for better coordination among government agencies to eliminate overlapping responsibilities and unnecessary regulatory costs.
With opposition parties questioning the timing and effectiveness of the intervention, and experts demanding greater transparency over its financing, the proposed 30-day petrol discount has emerged as another flashpoint in the national debate over subsidy removal, the cost of living and the direction of Nigeria's economic reforms ahead of the 2027 elections.
