Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has backed Dangote Refinery’s objection to what it described as arbitrary control of petroleum pump prices, insisting that his proposed production subsidy would lower the cost of locally refined fuel without compelling Nigerian refineries to sell below cost.
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Atiku, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, accused the Presidency of misrepresenting his subsidy proposal and turning concerns raised by Dangote Refinery into what he described as a campaign against the policy.
According to him, Dangote Refinery had raised a legitimate commercial concern by arguing that a private refinery which had invested billions of dollars should not be compelled indefinitely to sell products below production cost and absorb the resulting losses.
“Dangote raised a legitimate business concern. The Presidency turned it into a campaign of fear,” Atiku said, describing any attempt to force a refinery to continuously sell below cost as economically damaging and unfair to private investors.
Atiku said his proposal was fundamentally different from the previous petrol subsidy regime because it would support domestic production rather than imported petroleum products.
“Import subsidy spends public money supporting petrol refined abroad and brought into Nigeria. Production subsidy supports crude refined here in Nigeria so that Nigerian refineries can produce fuel more cheaply and Nigerians can pay less,” he said.
He explained that under the proposal, the cost of crude feedstock supplied to qualifying Nigerian refineries would be reduced through what he described as a transparent, capped and independently verified mechanism.
Atiku said the objective was to ensure that lower production costs translated into reduced prices for consumers while allowing refiners to recover legitimate costs and retain a reasonable commercial margin.
“There is a clear difference between helping a producer reduce costs and forcing that producer to sell at a loss,” he said, accusing the Tinubu administration of deliberately misrepresenting that distinction.
The former Vice-President stressed that the proposed subsidy would apply only to crude refined within Nigeria and would not benefit foreign refineries, fuel importers or middlemen.
“This is not a subsidy for foreign refineries. It is not a subsidy for importers. It is not a subsidy for middlemen. It is a subsidy for Nigerian production,” he said.
Atiku also said his proposed government would not arbitrarily fix a petrol pump price and compel domestic refineries to absorb the difference. Any further relief required to lower prices beyond what reduced crude costs could achieve, he said, would have to be openly budgeted, capped and audited.
“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.
He outlined safeguards he said would accompany the proposed production subsidy, including a hard fiscal ceiling, maximum support per barrel, independent verification of crude supplied, electronic tracking of crude intake and refined output, domestic supply obligations, transparent pricing, independent audits and penalties for diversion or fraud.
“We will know how many barrels receive support, which refinery receives them, what is produced, what it costs the taxpayer and what benefit Nigerians receive. No mystery barrels. No endless claims. No blank cheques,” Atiku said.
He argued that Nigeria’s refining industry would depend significantly on private investment and that government policy should therefore protect the commercial viability of domestic refineries rather than impose losses on them.
Atiku also criticised the economic policies of the Tinubu administration, alleging that Nigerians had endured rising fuel, transportation and food costs while the government continued to present hardship as a necessary consequence of reform.
He further argued that the administration already granted tax credits, incentives, concessions and other forms of support to businesses, and therefore should not portray targeted support for domestic refining as inherently unacceptable.
Atiku urged the Presidency to debate the proposal on its actual terms, reiterating that he was proposing neither the subsidisation of imported petrol nor a policy compelling Dangote Refinery or any other local producer to sell below cost.
“We are proposing a production subsidy not an import subsidy. We are not proposing to subsidise petrol refined abroad. We are not proposing to force Dangote or any other Nigerian refinery to sell below cost,” he said.
He maintained that Dangote Refinery’s position strengthened rather than weakened his argument, because a production subsidy could, in his view, protect refiners from losses while easing the cost burden on Nigerians.
“Dangote is right that a refinery should not be forced to carry the burden of an artificially imposed price. We agree. Nigerians are also right that the present cost of fuel, transportation, food and doing business has become unbearable. Our production subsidy answers both concerns,” Atiku said.
He concluded by presenting the proposal as a shift towards domestic refining, employment creation and lower consumer costs.
“Subsidise Nigerian production, not foreign importation. Produce here. Refine here. Create jobs here. Pay less here. That is the Atiku production subsidy model,” he said.
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