The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has promised to reduce the prices of petrol, cooking gas and aviation fuel, also known as Jet A1, to N200 per litre if elected president in 2027.
Adebayo made the pledge while featuring on the News Agency of Nigeria Personality Interview Series on Sunday in Abuja.
He said his administration would achieve the proposed reduction within 12 months by reviving Nigeria’s existing refineries and creating an enabling environment for modular refineries to operate.
Adebayo argued that Nigeria’s refineries, despite being almost 50 years old, remained serviceable, noting that some refineries in the United States that are more than 100 years old are still operating.
He also pledged to restore what he described as the original subsidy regime, which reserved 450,000 barrels of crude oil for domestic consumption.
“All other derivatives from the 450,000 barrels like naphtha, heavy fuel oil, diesel, kerosene, etc. will be sold and the money used to maintain the regime price,” he said.
The SDP candidate said the ongoing debate over petrol subsidy was distracting attention from what he described as the fundamental challenges facing Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
According to him, the priority should be to develop adequate domestic refining capacity rather than continue importing refined petroleum products at international prices.
Adebayo said Nigeria had an advantage because it possessed crude oil resources and existing refining infrastructure, arguing that the country should refine its crude locally instead of relying heavily on imported products.
“SDP will pick cooking gas, petrol and Jet A1; those three, we will put them under a regime where the price does not go past N200.
“We will go to the National Assembly and demand to see that all the other derivatives that come from it like naphtha and all others, when we sell them, we use the money to equalise the price,” he said.
He further promised that Nigerians would no longer be discussing fuel subsidy under an SDP administration, arguing that subsidy was not a government economic programme.
Adebayo dismissed the argument that subsidy removal alone would resolve Nigeria’s fiscal challenges, describing the debate as a “red herring”.
He said government should instead concentrate on making existing refineries functional while establishing additional modular refineries to serve local markets.
The presidential candidate also linked his proposed reduction in petroleum prices to his transportation policy, saying an SDP administration would expand public transportation and rail services to reduce dependence on private vehicles.
Under his proposed system, workers and students would be able to use employment and student identification cards linked to public transport services without paying directly, while employers would contribute six per cent of workers’ salaries towards transportation.
Adebayo said the measures, combined with cheaper petrol and aviation fuel, would reduce transportation costs and stimulate economic activity.
He also pledged to limit housing costs to seven per cent of workers’ salaries while providing free education and healthcare.
“The summary of it is that transportation costs cannot go more than six per cent of your salary and housing costs should not be more than seven per cent of your salary; education and healthcare should be free.
“That is basically the thing we are going to do, and to make sure that food is affordable, government will focus on agriculture and ensure food security,” he said.