Fuel price relief not return to subsidy, CPPE insists

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has said the Federal Government’s fuel price relief initiative through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) should not be interpreted as a reversal of the petroleum subsidy removal policy.

The Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said the intervention was a temporary response to an extraordinary global energy shock rather than a return to the former subsidy regime.

In a policy brief, Yusuf attributed the recent surge in petroleum product prices largely to geopolitical tensions that have pushed global crude oil prices above $100 per barrel, describing the development as an external shock affecting oil-producing and oil-importing countries.

He said governments could introduce temporary relief measures to protect households and businesses from exceptional economic difficulties without abandoning their underlying economic policies.

According to him, the current intervention differs significantly from the previous subsidy regime in scale, design and potential fiscal implications.

Under the former arrangement, government bore a substantial financial burden on nationwide petrol consumption estimated at between 50 million and 90 million litres daily, creating fiscal pressures and contributing to macroeconomic instability.

By contrast, Yusuf said reported figures indicated that the current intervention covered approximately 70 million litres of NNPC fuel supply monthly, compared with estimated national petrol consumption of 50 million litres daily.

He added that the initiative had not reinstated a regulated national petrol price or imposed a general subsidy obligation on private operators.

Yusuf, however, stressed the need for transparency, clear timelines and financial sustainability in implementing the intervention, noting that NNPC’s commercial status did not prevent it from undertaking temporary public-interest measures within an appropriate governance framework.

He warned that reinstating a broad-based petrol subsidy would recreate fiscal vulnerabilities, particularly amid Nigeria’s infrastructure deficits, debt-servicing obligations and competing development needs.

The CPPE chief executive also said a limited relief programme would not necessarily undermine investor confidence, provided the government maintained market-based pricing, fair competition and commercially viable conditions for private operators.

Beyond fuel discounts, he urged federal and state governments to introduce broader measures to cushion the impact of rising energy costs on households and businesses.

He recommended increased investment in affordable mass transit, including compressed natural gas-powered and electric buses, to reduce transportation costs for low-income workers, students and small businesses.

Yusuf also called for targeted support for farmers through improved access to fertilisers, agrochemicals, agricultural machinery and other productivity-enhancing inputs to reduce food production and distribution costs.

He urged state and local governments to complement federal efforts through subsidised public transportation, designated discounted fuel outlets and targeted assistance for vulnerable households.

Such programmes, he said, should have clear eligibility criteria, defined timelines, transparent funding arrangements and safeguards against diversion.

Yusuf maintained that Nigeria needed a credible framework for temporary, targeted and transparent social protection during exceptional economic shocks rather than a return to what he described as the fiscally destructive subsidy regime.

He said economic reforms must remain sustainable while responding to citizens’ welfare needs.

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