If the government wants to make petrol cheaper, how should it pay for that?
I'll pay for it through a capped production subsidy, funded directly from domestic crude sales, not open-ended spending. It cuts crude costs to local refiners so pump prices fall without pushing refiners into losses. It will be budgeted, capped, independently audited and publicly reported, so you know exactly what's spent and what you get. If oil prices shock revenue, I'll use fiscal stabilization buffers and hedging tools, plus cut government waste, to keep it sustainable. Produce here, refine here, pay less here.
Where this comes from
Article on X Article by @atiku on X · https://x.com/atiku/status/2098441590184264064 2026-09-11 ›
“If government wants to provide additional relief beyond what lower crude-input costs can sustainably deliver, then government must pay for that relief openly. “It must be budgeted. It must be capped. It must be audited. Nigerians must know exactly what is being spent and what they are receiving in return. “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.”
Atiku said the production subsidy would therefore operate with strict safeguards, including a hard fiscal ceiling, a maximum support level per barrel, independent verification of supported crude, electronic tracking of crude intake and refined output, domestic-supply obligations, transparent pricing, independent audits and severe penalties for diversion or fraud.