Fuel price: NNPCL petrol discount not return subsidy regime – CPPE

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, CPPE, has explained why the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) temporary petrol price discount does not amount to a return to the fuel subsidy regime abolished by the Federal Government.

CPPE said the initiative was a temporary intervention to cushion Nigerians against rising petroleum prices triggered by shocks in the global energy market, rather than a reversal of the policy of petroleum subsidy removal.

The Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, stated this in a policy brief issued on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, while addressing concerns that the fuel price relief initiative could undermine the government’s economic reforms.

According to Yusuf, the recent increase in petroleum prices was driven largely by geopolitical tensions that pushed global crude oil prices above $100 per barrel, affecting both oil-producing and oil-importing countries.

He argued that the development was an external economic shock rather than a consequence of Nigeria’s subsidy removal policy.

“Such an interpretation is misleading and fails to distinguish between a fundamental policy reversal and a temporary intervention in response to an extraordinary economic shock,” Yusuf said.

Explaining the difference between the current initiative and the former subsidy regime, CPPE said the previous arrangement imposed a substantial fiscal burden on the government by subsidising nationwide petrol consumption, which was estimated at between 50 million and 90 million litres daily at different times.

The economic group noted that the former subsidy regime placed significant pressure on public finances, crowded out development spending and contributed to macroeconomic instability.

In contrast, CPPE said the current intervention covered approximately 70 million litres of NNPCL’s fuel supply monthly, compared with estimated national petrol consumption of 50 million litres daily.

“Reinstating a broad-based consumption subsidy would recreate serious fiscal vulnerabilities and consequential distortions in the economy,” Yusuf said.

“The current fuel price relief initiative should be understood as a limited response to an extraordinary global energy shock, not a reversal of the policy on petroleum subsidy removal,” he added.