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

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has clarified that the temporary petrol price discount offered by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is not a return to the fuel subsidy regime that was abolished by the federal government. The initiative is a temporary measure to alleviate the impact of rising petroleum prices on Nigerians, resulting from global energy market shocks, rather than a reversal of the policy to remove fuel subsidies.

CPPE's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Muda Yusuf, explained this distinction in a policy brief on October 13, 2026, addressing concerns that the fuel price relief could undermine the government's economic reforms. Yusuf clarified that the recent surge in petroleum prices was primarily driven by geopolitical tensions causing global crude oil prices to surpass $100 per barrel, affecting both oil-producing and oil-importing nations.

He emphasized that this was an external economic shock, not a result of the removal of Nigeria's fuel subsidy policy. Yusuf distinguished the current initiative from the former subsidy regime, which imposed a significant fiscal burden on the government by subsidizing nationwide petrol consumption, estimated at 50 million to 90 million litres daily, depending on the period.

The subsidy regime put considerable pressure on public finances, hindered development spending, and contributed to macroeconomic instability. In contrast, CPPE noted that the current intervention covered about 70 million litres of NNPCL's fuel supply monthly, compared to the estimated national petrol consumption of 50 million litres daily.

Yusuf stated that reinstating a broad-based consumption subsidy would recreate serious fiscal vulnerabilities and economic distortions. He reiterated that the fuel price relief should be viewed as a limited response to an extraordinary global energy shock, not a reversal of the policy on petroleum subsidy removal.