FG Offers 30-day Petrol Discount At NNPC Stations

The federal government has announced a 30-day discount on petrol sold at NNPC Limited stations, with priority for public transporters nationwide.

Minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Professor Taiwo Oyedele, announced the measure on Thursday at a press briefing in Abuja on fuel prices and the subsidy question.

He said the discount is a margin discount on petrol dispensed by NNPC Limited. It will run for the next 30 days.

Oyedele said petrol now averages about N1,400 a litre, up from about N830 before the Gulf conflict pushed Brent crude above $100 a barrel. He said the increase was caused by a global conflict in which Nigeria had no say.

He said the discount is one of several steps to ease the burden on households, and that it does not amount to a return to subsidy. “None of these measures restores a blanket subsidy,” he said.

The minister added that the government is negotiating a ceiling of N1,350 a litre on the ex-gantry or landing cost of petrol. Refiners and importers would carry any cost above the ceiling and recover it later, he said. He described this as neither a subsidy nor a price control.

Other measures include forward sales of crude to domestic refineries, more cash transfers to vulnerable households, a faster CNG rollout, action against illegal road levies, and a National Strategic Fuel Reserve. He said the government will also consider an excess profit tax on operators who take undue advantage of consumers.

Oyedele rejected calls to bring back the subsidy. He said returning petrol to its pre-reform price would cost more than N20 trillion a year, and that the naira could approach N3,000 to the dollar within months, according to the government’s own estimate.

The minister said any credible proposal should state what it will cost, how it will be funded, and what pump price it will deliver.