News
Dangote refinery can’t change the high price of fuel – NNPC
The local production of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol, by Dangote Refinery, Port Harcourt Refining Company and others in Nigeria is not going to change the pump price of the commodity, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said.
The NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, who disclosed this during an interview on Arise television in Abuja on Thursday, stressed that the notion that petrol prices would reduce once the country starts domestic production was false.
Kyari confirmed that the Dangote Refinery, which was inaugurated on May 22, 2023, by former President Muhammadu Buhari, would start pushing out products by the end of July and early August.
He also stated that the Port Harcourt Refinery would be delivered by the end of the year, adding that the facility was expected to further boost local production of petrol.
But Kyari declared that despite the volume of petrol being expected from these facilities, the cost of the commodity would not reduce, regardless of the fact that the product was produced locally.
“There is a notion that if the product is processed locally, prices will reduce. Let me make it clear that it is not going to change anything. If you produce locally, the refineries will also input the cost of production and other things and it will be sold at the current price.
“There will also be no subsidy when local production starts because there is no cash-to-back subsidy, this country no longer has the resources to continue with subsidy,” Kyari stated.
Fuel queues
Speaking on when the fuel queues being witnessed across the country would clear, during another interview on Channels TV, the NNPCL boss said the queues would not exceed Saturday.
“I don’t see it staying beyond another day or two, maximum. It can actually be on Saturday. We have supplies. The key trouble with the PMS system is supply, but I have supplies.
“There are over 810 million litres of PMS in depots, tanks and fuel stations across the country, so you don’t have the problem of transferring those from marine to land, you already have them on the ground,” he stated.
He validated the PMS pricing document for various states that trended on Wednesday on the internet, stating that the document was from the NNPCL.
“You have seen a document in the space out there. Every company does this. It is a marketing document. It was not a price announcing document, every company keeps this record and adjusts it appropriately on the basis of changing conditions in the market.
“So what you saw was just an internal company document that found its way into the internet. It is an NNPC document but it was not intended to be an announcement and is not an announcement, because it can change the next day,” Kyari stated.
On whether there was enough product in-country, he said, “Today I have 1.8 billion litres of PMS and that means that if we don’t do anything, I’ll have sufficient fuel for the next 30 days in my hands.
Kyari explained that the company had over 800 million litres of petrol on land, stored in filling stations, tank farms and depots, while its total stock for both marine and land stood at about 1.8 billion litres.
“But, of course, the way we supply is not this way, so we maintain this level of supply consistently. That means you will see the arrival of products every day so that you continue to maintain that level of safety.”
‘Subsidy not realistic’
Speaking to journalists after a meeting with the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, at the party secretariat in Abuja on Thursday, Kyari revealed that the administration of President Bola Tinubu had concluded arrangements to have one of the four refineries repaired and operating at an optimal level before the end of the year.
The NNPCL boss argued that it was no longer justifiable to continue subsidising the commodity given the high opportunity cost the Federal Government was suffering from funding it.
Kyari, who was received by the APC chairman and members of the National Working Committee at about 12.30 pm, confessed that the country could no longer sustain the expensive subsidy regime.
According to him, over 38 per cent of the total fuel distributed in the country was consumed by Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Rivers.
Kyari explained that following the hike in pump price and the resultant effect on commercial fare, the president was working out some palliative measures to ease the pains of Nigerians.
He also added that there was an ongoing process of rehabilitation to ensure one of the refineries was ready this year.
Kyari lamented that despite its N2.8tn indebtedness to the NNPCL, the Federal Government had yet to release funds for 2022 and 2023 subsidies.
He said, “There was a subsidy in 2022 but in 2023, not a single naira was provided for the purpose. And ultimately while we held back our fiscal obligations, we still have a net balance of over N2.8tn that the federation should have given back to the NNPC.
‘’For any company, when you have negative N2.8tn, there is no company in the whole of Africa that will lend to you. You cannot have receivables. The provision of subsidy is there but absolutely there is no funding for it. It means it is only on paper. It doesn’t exist.
“We can no longer bear it. If we continue, we will run into defaults and the default of NNPC is the default of Nigeria. Once NNPC goes into default and liquidity, it affects every borrowing done by the country, even the sub-nationals. Your lenders will come back to you and say your country can no longer pay.
‘’The only way you can stop this is to stop this conversation around subsidy. It is why Mr President announced that the subsidy is gone. In 24 hours, the bond market appreciated. It is nothing else other than the statement around subsidy and balancing of the apex market. These two elements are a major concern for every investor all over the world. Every partner that we have is worried about.’’
Inflation expected
Kyari acknowledged that the price increase would trigger inflation, noting that the market forces would determine what happens subsequently.
He noted, “Before today, the average subsidy level was N400bn every month. There is nothing anybody can do about it. There is this common argument that the masses will suffer. I agree that once you increase prices of this proportion, as it has happened, it will have an impact on inflation. There is no doubt about it. The market determines what happens next. Even inflation in many countries goes up when you have economic indices become difficult.
“Mr President’s target is to have seven per cent growth of GDP. You cannot have it if you have this disruption in your demands and consumption pattern. Very many of us here have at least two cars in our houses including myself. When you buy fuel of 100 litres in an SUV, you are literally subsidising three litres with N100 for all of us.
‘’Even the consumption itself is clearly skewed in locations and states where the level of economic activities are higher than the others. It is very understandable and that is why people can afford it in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Kano. So over 38 per cent of the total fuel distributed in this country ends up in these places. All the other parts of the country suffer for it and you can see the relativity.’’
Kyari submitted that the price at which petrol was being sold now is the current market price of the commodity.
‘’The price you are seeing today at our stations is the current market price of the commodity and what this means is that prices in the market can go down at any time and the market will adjust itself. The beauty of this is that there will be a new entrance because oil marketing companies now will want to invest, they have been reluctant to come in because of the subsidy,’’ he stated.
With the latest development, the NNPCL chief said the market would regulate itself, adding that oil marketing companies could now import products or buy locally-produced ones and take them into the market and sell at commercial prices.
He added, ‘’You would see competition even with NNPCL, and by law, the company can’t do more than 30 per cent of the market going forward. So competition will surely come in and definitely, the market will regulate the price itself. It is an instantaneous price and in two weeks, you will see the adjustment that is happening in many jurisdictions.
‘’But ultimately, you would see changes in price downwards and that is very likely. Efficiency will come in and every lacuna in the sector will be taken out because of the new situation.
Inspiration most at times comes from leaders who are audacious. The present regime in Ebonyi State has weaponized the system against the people. Instead of working to provide *welfare and security*, which is the primary duty of every government, for the people they govern, the system has become a terror against the citizens.
The vision of Dr Anyichuks Odii, the PDP governorship candidate to reconstruct Ebonyi state, economically, politically and developmentally is well known. *Under his government, the people will rejoice because the Bible says that *WHEN THE RIGHTEOUS IS IN AUTHORITY, THE PEOPLE REJOICE, BUT WHEN THE WICKED BEAR RULE, THE PEOPLE MOURN*!
This is the position of what is taking place in Ebonyi state today. The wicked is bearing rule, now in Ebonyi, the people are mourning. The present regime is bearing rule from a very wicked perspective hence the people are mourning.
*”I told them when we start campaigning, I will be campaigning as a private citizen. Show me what you have done, I will show you what I have done. If you can do it as a private citizen, I will surrender, I will resign and I will bow and allow you to continue…”* – Chief Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii
This a very audacious declaration by the PDP governorship candidate in Ebonyi State, I want to say, *EBONYI RISE, A DANIEL HAS COME TO JUDGEMENT*
ANYICHUKS ODII IS HERE.
Dr. Kenneth Anozie
Political Analyst
Former Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly and APC House of Representatives candidate for Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency, Rt. Hon. Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji, has said the recent Osun State governorship election proved that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can conduct free and fair polls, while President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s transparency reforms are taking hold and redefining Nigerian democracy.
In an article titled “Transparency, Trust, and Transformation: Why INEC’s Credibility and Tinubu’s Reforms Are Redefining Nigerian Democracy,” Orji argued that transparency is the oxygen of true democracy, enabling free elections, economic growth, and citizens’ ability to hold leaders to account.
“Transparency is the oxygen of true democracy. Without it, elections become rituals, policies become decrees, and public trust erodes. With it, citizens can see the process, judge the outcomes, and believe that their votes and their taxes actually matter,” Orji wrote.
The former Speaker said President Tinubu’s commitment to openness is a governing philosophy anchored on the belief that legitimacy comes from process, not pronouncement.
He cited the Osun election as a defining moment for INEC’s credibility. According to Orji, despite widespread skepticism that the ruling APC had predetermined the winner, INEC conducted a free and fair election.
“To their dumbfounding surprise, INEC conducted a free and fair election. Voters were accredited, results were transmitted, and party agents were allowed to witness the process at every level. The atmosphere reflected competition, not coercion,” he wrote.
Orji noted that Accord Party candidate Ademola Adeleke emerged as winner, adding that the outcome “cut across expectations and party lines” and forced even skeptical observers to reassess.
He said President Tinubu’s posture before, during, and after the election reinforced INEC’s credibility, adding that there was no directive from the Villa to skew the process.
“That is adherence to the Rule of Law in practice. When the head of government allows institutions to function independently, he is telling Nigerians that no one, including his own party, is above the process,” Orji stated.
The APC chieftain also linked INEC’s credibility to the administration’s economic transparency agenda, describing both as “two sides of the same coin.”
“One protects political rights, the other protects economic rights. Both depend on institutions being allowed to work,” he wrote.
On the removal of petroleum subsidy, Orji described the policy as a “difficult but necessary path” that has delivered immediate and measurable results.
“Federation allocations to states have quadrupled in many cases. Money that previously disappeared into subsidy payments is now flowing into state coffers,” he wrote.
He said governors across party lines now have more fiscal space to pay salaries, rehabilitate schools, invest in healthcare, and fix roads, adding that it is “only fair and only right” that they acknowledge President Tinubu’s role in the reform.
Orji said transparency in the reform matters because Nigerians can now see monthly FAAC figures published, track what comes into the federation account, and demand accountability from their state governments.
“When citizens know how much their state received, they can also ask how it is being spent. That is democracy extending beyond election day into governance itself,” he wrote.
He said the judiciary has also benefited from the executive’s respect for court judgments and due process, adding that public trust is being slowly rebuilt because people can point to concrete examples.
“Osun is one. Improved allocations is another. There is a pattern forming,” Orji stated.
He concluded that President Tinubu has demonstrated a consistent willingness to uphold the principles of democratisation—free elections, open policies, and governance that answers to the people.
“In the final analysis, transparency is not a slogan. It is an enabler. It enables free elections, it enables economic growth, and it enables citizens to hold leaders to account,” he wrote.
“That is the standard Nigerians should now demand, and it is the standard this administration has set.”
The Chief Imam of 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt.-Col. Husein Eleje, has charged Nigerians emulate and imbibe Prophet Muhammad’s peaceful, truthful and just lifestyle in order to build a progressive nation.
Eleje gave the charge in an interview on Tuesday from Abakaliki, Ebonyi State to commemorate Eid-el-Maulud celebration being the celebration of the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace be upon Him).
He said that Muhammad, who was born at Middle-East in Saudi Arabia in the year 570 AD, displayed worthy character among all people and was known as “a trustworthy, honest and simple person”.
According to him, so the celebration of the Maulud is done to emulate the good life-style, which Prophet Muhammad lived.
“The Holy Prophet lived peaceful and humble life and always mediate among disputing parties. He never cheated anyone nor shy away from speaking the truth.
“Prophet Muhammad associated freely, traded, worked together with the common people to establish a city (Medina) where people of different faiths lived together and practiced their faith and had freedom of worship.
“He stood against any oppression and injustice and he always say ‘your bloods are sacred, and your wealth and property are sacred’.
“To Him, it is prohibited for any one to harm his brother or take his property unjustly,” he said.
The cleric urged Nigerians to tolerate one another and protect the interest of one another as the Prophet had exemplified.
Eleje said that the Prophet humbled Himself to even those who followed and accept Islam as well as participated equally with them in any communal work to build the society.
“We must be a people who advocate for peaceful co-existence among others and our neighbours,” he added.
When Alhaji Atiku Abubakar recently said he would restore petroleum subsidy if elected president, he tapped into a familiar frustration. Fuel prices are high, transport costs bite, and households are feeling the squeeze. That pain is real. But the promise to bring back the old subsidy regime is not relief. It is a return to a policy that bled the treasury, starved the states, and kept Nigeria dependent on borrowing to buy fuel.
For decades the subsidy was sold as a welfare program for the poor. In practice it became the most expensive welfare program for smugglers, marketers, and a handful of importers. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company would claim billions monthly, and no one could audit where the product actually went. That was not social protection. That was fiscal leakage at scale.
The first and most immediate benefit of subsidy removal is fiscal breathing room. In 2022 alone, subsidy gulped over 4 trillion naira. That was more than we spent on education, health, and capital projects combined. When that money stopped going to fuel, it did not disappear. It stayed in government coffers, and a large share of it flows directly to the sub nationals through FAAC.
The sub nationals are where the difference is being felt most. States and local governments now receive significantly higher monthly allocations. Governors in Rivers, Lagos, Kano, and others have reported FAAC receipts nearly doubling compared to pre-removal levels. That is money that can pay teachers, fix primary health centers, and clear pension arrears without waiting for Abuja bailouts.
In Rivers State, for example, the additional resources have allowed the state government to accelerate road projects, expand the school feeding conversation, and invest in water and sanitation. Across the country, states are using the windfall to clear salary backlogs and to fund security. That is the direct link between subsidy removal and better services at your doorstep.
Beyond recurrent needs, the removal unlocked capital spending. With subsidy gone, the federal government and states are no longer borrowing just to keep petrol cheap. Instead, we are seeing commitments to CNG buses, mass transit, student loans, and conditional cash transfers. These are targeted interventions. They reach the vulnerable without subsidizing a businessman in Cotonou who drives across the border to buy cheap fuel.
One of the quietest but biggest wins is the end of the subsidy-driven smuggling economy. When Nigerian petrol was artificially cheap, an estimated 30 to 40 percent was leaving our borders daily. That drained our forex and rewarded criminal networks. With prices aligned to market, the incentive to smuggle collapsed almost overnight. That saves dollars and restores integrity to our supply chain.
Sub nationals also gained policy space. Before, states were trapped. They could not raise IGR fast enough to match their responsibilities because the center was spending all its revenue on fuel. Now, with more money coming from FAAC and with subsidy no longer a federal albatross, states can plan medium-term budgets. They can borrow for infrastructure knowing their revenue base is real, not propped up by a phantom fuel bill.
The macroeconomic case is just as strong. Subsidy removal freed up foreign exchange that was being used to import and “subsidize” fuel. That pressure contributed to naira volatility. With the drain gone, the CBN has more room to stabilize the market, and investors see a government willing to make hard choices. Confidence matters for FDI, and FDI builds factories, not just fuel stations.
Let us be honest about the counterargument. Atiku and others argue that Nigerians cannot afford the current prices and that government should cushion the pain by restoring subsidy. The compassion is understandable. But the method is wrong. A blanket subsidy is the bluntest tool possible. It subsidizes the rich who own three cars, it subsidizes generators in malls, and it subsidizes our neighbors.
Targeted support is both cheaper and fairer. The savings from subsidy removal are already funding student loans, nano-grants, and public transport reforms. Those programs can be scaled. If we put 1 trillion naira directly into transport, health insurance, and food support, the impact on the poor will be ten times what the same 1 trillion did when spread thinly across every liter of petrol.
International experience backs this. Indonesia, India, and Ghana all removed fuel subsidies and redirected the savings to health, education, and cash transfers. In each case there was short-term pain, followed by stronger public services. Countries that reversed course and brought subsidies back, like Egypt in 2014 before its second reform, ended up in deeper debt crises.
Restoring subsidy now would also reverse private sector investment. Since the removal, private companies have begun investing in refineries, CNG conversion centers, and logistics. Dangote Refinery, modular refineries, and gas infrastructure are viable only because prices reflect costs. If we announce that subsidy will return, those investors pause. That means fewer jobs in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Lagos.
For the sub nationals, a return to subsidy is a direct pay cut. FAAC would shrink again. States would go back to borrowing to pay salaries. Projects started with the new revenues would stall. Local governments, which depend almost entirely on federal transfers, would be the first to feel it. That is not theoretical. We lived it for 20 years.
Atiku’s argument rests on the idea that the timing was wrong and the palliatives were insufficient. Fair critique. But the solution to poor implementation is better implementation, not abandoning the reform. We should demand faster rollout of CNG buses, more transparency in how FAAC windfalls are spent, and stronger monitoring of state budgets. We should not demand a return to the policy that caused the weakness.
The subsidy was also a corruption magnet. It created a system where claims were king and verification was optional. Removing it broke that cycle. Bringing it back without fixing the governance structure is inviting the same fraud, only now with higher global oil prices and a weaker naira.
There is also a climate and energy angle. Cheap petrol discouraged gas adoption and kept us locked into generators. With market pricing, CNG, electric tricycles, and solar become economically sensible. States can lead this transition because they now have the funds to subsidize conversion kits, not fuel itself.
Politically, the promise to restore subsidy sounds popular in the short term. But governance is about trade-offs. The trade-off here is clear: cheap fuel for a few months versus hospitals, roads, and jobs for years. Sub nationals have already shown what they can do with the extra money. To take it away is to punish the very level of government closest to the people.
Finally, debt. Subsidy was financed largely by borrowing and by unpaid arrears to NNPC. That debt was crowding out everything else. Every naira we do not spend on subsidy is a naira we do not have to borrow. That lowers interest payments, which in turn frees more money for states and local governments.
Nigeria does not need a return to the past. We need to finish the work of this reform. That means plugging leakages, auditing state spending, and scaling targeted support so no family is left behind.
Alhaji Atiku is a respected Nigerian, but on this point he is wrong. Restoring subsidy would undo the single most important fiscal correction we have made in a generation. It would hurt the states, weaken the naira, and put us back on the borrowing treadmill.
The better path is forward. Keep the subsidy gone. Let the sub nationals keep the resources. And let government prove that the savings can translate into tangible relief. That is how we turn pain into progress, and that is how we build a Nigeria that works beyond election cycles.
CHINEDUM ENYINNAYA ORJI writes from Amaokwe Ugba, Umuahia Ibeku and the All Progressives Congress Candidate for Ikwuano Umuahia Federal Constituency.
Seven people have died and seven others sustained injuries in a fatal road crash on the Bida-Kutigi road in Niger State, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has confirmed.
The FRSC Niger Sector Commander, Corps Commander Aishatu Sa’adu, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.
Sa’adu said the crash occurred on Sunday afternoon at Shebe village, a few kilometres from Kutigi town.
According to her, the accident involved a Mazda vehicle and a Siena bus travelling along the Bida-Kutigi road.
“Seven people lost their lives, seven others were injured while four were rescued without injuries, bringing the total involved to 18,” she said.
The sector commander said the seven victims who died were confirmed dead at the scene, while the injured victims sustained injuries of varying degrees.
She said the injured were evacuated to Kutigi General Hospital for medical attention, while the remains of the deceased were deposited at the hospital’s mortuary.
The FRSC official did not immediately disclose the identities of the victims or provide further details on the circumstances surrounding the collision.
The crash involved a total of 18 people, comprising seven fatalities, seven injured persons and four uninjured survivors.
Authorities are expected to investigate the cause of the accident and determine the circumstances that led to the fatal collision.
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