Fuel discount: Atiku accuses Tinubu of turning NNPCL into campaign money cashier

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has described the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “campaign money cashier”.

He made the remark in a statement issued at the weekend by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu.

Atiku questioned whether NNPCL was still operating as a commercial company or had become Tinubu’s campaign cashier.

He accused Tinubu of turning a petrol discount into a political spectacle at the expense of NNPC Limited.

“Tinubu wants Nigerians to cheer for N66 off a litre before they ask who ordered NNPC to surrender the money. He wants credit for the discount without showing the board approval, the cost or the account that will carry it. Nigerians are not so desperate for relief that they have forgotten how to ask a simple question: who pays for Tinubu’s applause?

“NNPC Limited is no longer the old NNPC corporation. The Petroleum Industry Act established it to operate as a commercial company. Yet the Presidency announces a discount, claims the applause and tells NNPC to surrender its margin. Is the government exercising its rights as a shareholder through proper corporate channels, or treating NNPC Limited as a drawer of campaign money it can open whenever an election approaches?

“When Nigerians demand affordable petrol, Tinubu’s officials deliver a lecture about market forces. They say prices cannot be wished down. But when Tinubu needs a headline, the Presidency reaches into NNPC’s margin and calls it relief. Apparently, the market is sacred until the President needs applause.

“And where, exactly, are Nigerians supposed to find this relief? NNPC Retail has just over 900 stations for a country of roughly 242 million people. That is a narrow network for a national promise. Motorists are already queuing at some outlets. Must a driver burn petrol travelling to an NNPC station, spend time in a queue, download an app and pay through it to save N66 on each litre? How much of the saving survives the journey?

“The administration says this is not a subsidy. Changing the name of a cost does not make it disappear,” he stated.

Recall that on Thursday, the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, announced a proposed 30-day fuel price discount, with petrol expected to sell at N1,350 per litre at NNPCL filling stations.

The move has sparked reactions among Nigerians grappling with the high cost of living.

DAILY POST reports that petrol currently sells for between N1,370 and N1,410 per litre in Abuja and its environs.