The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has unveiled a new petroleum subsidy model that would shift government support from fuel imports to domestic refining.
Atiku said the proposed model under his Atiku Economic Recovery Plan (AERP) 2027 would target domestic production, cap government spending, track subsidised crude from allocation to the point of sale and subject the entire process to independent audits.
The proposal was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
Atiku said his plan was not a return to Nigeria’s former opaque petrol subsidy regime, but a structured intervention aimed at strengthening local refining while ensuring consumers benefit from government support.
“My proposal is not to resurrect the old subsidy regime. We will move subsidy from importation to production, from middlemen to Nigerian refineries, and from unverifiable claims to verifiable barrels.
“The principle is simple: the subsidy will follow the barrel,” he said.
Under the proposed AERP framework, qualifying public and private refineries would have access to Nigerian crude at preferential prices, subject to production, efficiency, transparency and domestic supply requirements.
Atiku acknowledged that selling crude below its market-equivalent value would impose an opportunity cost on the Federation, but said the cost would be openly disclosed and controlled.
“The cost will be known. The ceiling will be known. The beneficiaries will be known. And, most importantly, the benefit delivered to Nigerians will be measurable.
“We will determine what Nigeria can afford before we subsidise. We will not subsidise first and discover the bill afterwards,” he said.
The former vice president said his proposal would prevent refinery operators from benefiting from subsidised crude without passing the savings to Nigerian consumers.
He said no refinery would receive preferentially priced crude without an independently verified quantity of petroleum products being supplied to the domestic market under a transparent pricing formula reflecting the crude subsidy.
According to him, crude allocations, refinery intake, production yields, inventories and domestic deliveries would be reconciled to ensure that every subsidised barrel could be traced from allocation through refining to consumers.
“No phantom cargoes. No fictitious imports. No unverifiable under-recoveries. No retrospective claims,” Atiku said.
He added, “If you receive subsidised Nigerian crude, you must refine it in Nigeria, supply the agreed products to Nigerians and pass the benefit to Nigerians. Otherwise, you do not qualify.”
Atiku said the proposed scheme would be open to all qualifying public and private refineries and would not be designed to favour politically connected operators.
He said allocation would be based on independently verified refining capacity, efficiency, domestic supply and compliance rather than political discretion.
The proposed framework would also contain measures against arbitrage, with subsidised crude and products benefiting from the intervention barred from being diverted to more profitable foreign markets while Nigerian taxpayers bear the cost.
Operators found diverting subsidised crude or products, manipulating production records, breaching domestic supply obligations or failing to pass the prescribed benefit to consumers would lose eligibility and be required to refund the subsidy benefit, in addition to facing applicable regulatory and legal sanctions.
“Nigeria will not subsidise anybody’s private profit. Public support must produce a measurable public benefit,” he said.
