Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has backed Dangote Refinery’s warning against arbitrary petrol pump-price controls, saying domestic refineries should not be forced to sell below cost.
Atiku, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of deliberately misrepresenting his proposed production subsidy in an attempt to discredit the policy.
He said Dangote Refinery’s concern was legitimate, arguing that a private refinery that had invested billions of dollars could not be compelled to absorb losses by selling petrol below its production cost.
Atiku explained that his proposal was based on a production subsidy, rather than the import subsidy model previously used in Nigeria.
According to him, the policy would reduce the cost of crude feedstock supplied to qualifying domestic refineries through a transparent and independently verified mechanism, allowing them to produce petrol more cheaply while maintaining reasonable commercial margins.
“There is a clear difference between helping a producer reduce costs and forcing that producer to sell at a loss,” Atiku said.
He stressed that the proposed subsidy would apply only to crude refined domestically and would not support foreign refineries, importers or middlemen.
Atiku said the policy would also include safeguards such as a strict fiscal ceiling, maximum support per barrel, electronic tracking of crude intake and refined output, domestic-supply obligations, transparent pricing, independent audits and penalties for fraud or diversion.
The former Vice President further argued that government should not impose a politically convenient pump price and shift the resulting financial burden onto private refineries.
“You cannot announce a politically convenient petrol price and quietly dump the cost on the refinery. That is not policy. That is confiscation by another name,” he said.
Atiku accused the Tinubu administration of worsening economic hardship through its reform policies, saying rising fuel, transport and food costs had placed millions of Nigerians under pressure.
He maintained that protecting the commercial viability of domestic refineries was essential to attracting private investment into Nigeria’s refining sector.
The former Vice President urged the Presidency to engage with the substance of his proposal rather than misrepresenting it, insisting that his model would promote domestic refining, create jobs and reduce fuel costs.
“Subsidise Nigerian production, not foreign importation. Produce here. Refine here. Create jobs here. Pay less here,” Atiku said.
