Here’s What Opposition Says About Petrol Discount

Nigeria’s opposition parties and labour unions have rejected the government’s 30-day petrol discount, describing it as a temporary, election-driven measure that fails to address the hardship caused by high fuel prices.

The government announced on Thursday that NNPC Retail would forgo its profit margin and sell petrol at cost for 30 days, with priority for public transporters.

Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele insisted the measure was “not a subsidy.”

Atiku: ‘What happens on Day 31?’

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress 2027 presidential candidate, described the discount as a “panic-driven publicity stunt” and a “calendar-scheduled, election-laced subsidy package” in a statement issued by his campaign’s Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

“Nigerians are not fools to be offered a month of discounted fuel after years of punishing prices and then expected to forget the hardship when the discount expires. This is shameless and heartless,” Atiku was quoted as saying.

“What happens on Day 31? Nigerians wake up to the same brutal prices, the same punishing transport fares and the same rising cost of food.

“The government cannot manufacture relief for one month and expect Nigerians to applaud while the hardship remains.”

Atiku noted the offer was limited to NNPC stations and that the government had not stated how much motorists would save per litre or guaranteed that transport operators would pass savings on through lower fares.

He said the government’s reversal proved his own production-support proposal was “workable, achievable and not complicated.”

“Tinubu made life expensive. I will make life affordable again,” he said.

NDC: ‘Tokenism and deceit’

The Nigeria Democratic Congress, in a statement signed by National Publicity Secretary Osa Director, called the discount “tokenism and a Greek gift from a government that whimsically removed fuel subsidy without proper consideration, consultation, or cushions for Nigerians.”

The party questioned how many NNPC retail outlets exist to serve over 200 million Nigerians, warning of a potential stampede at filling stations.

“Is this not the recipe for another stampede that could have many more Nigerians trampled to death at the filling stations?” the NDC asked.

The party said the move was a sign of a government “in free fall” and urged Nigerians to vote for Peter Obi in 2027.

Makinde/Daura: ‘Deceitful Stunt’

The Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation also rejected the 30-day petrol discount, describing it as a “deceitful” and “failed media stunt” aimed at beguiling Nigerians ahead of the 2027 elections.

In a statement signed by Director of Strategic Communications Richard Ihediwa, the campaign said the N60 discount on petrol sold at NNPC filling stations was “offensive and provocative.”

“It is a slap on the face of the suffering citizens that at the time they expected an impactful reduction in the astronomically high pump price of petrol, the Tinubu government came out on national media to announce an infinitesimal and ‘microscopic’ discount of N60,” the statement read.

The campaign questioned why the administration, which it said had raised petrol prices by up to 733 percent, was now offering a “teeny N60” reduction.

“It is indeed appalling that a government that deliberately caused an inexplicable increase in the pump price of petrol is now embarking on an insulting reduction that cannot add value but rather create wide division amongst the people,” it said.

The campaign said the fact that the discount was limited to “scantily located NNPC-owned retail filling stations” and would last only one month showed the administration had “come to its wits end and become bereft of solutions.”

It also criticised the offer to sell crude oil to domestic refineries at a dollar rate of $80 per barrel, describing it as “distasteful and offensive to our status as an oil producing nation.”

AAC: Demands Full Restoration

The African Action Congress also demanded full restoration of fuel subsidy as a permanent welfare policy.

In a statement signed by National Publicity Secretary Rex I. Elanu, the party described the discount as “another temporary response to a crisis created by Bola Tinubu through his reckless removal of fuel subsidy.”

“For over three years, Nigerians have endured astronomical fuel prices, soaring transport fares, hunger and unbearable cost of living, while the government continues to experiment with half-measures,” the statement read.

The party said its presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has consistently maintained that upon taking office, he will “RESTORE FULL FUEL SUBSIDY as a deliberate welfare policy to protect Nigerians from the brutality of market-driven fuel prices, even as an oil-producing country.”

“Unlike Bola Tinubu and the other Presidential candidates who change their positions when it is convenient, Omoyele Sowore has remained steadfast in his position, insisting that government must protect the people and guarantee affordable fuel by subsidizing it transparently and fixing the nation’s petroleum refineries,” AAC said.

“The Tinubu government cannot continue to impoverish Nigerians and then offer them a 30-day discount as political charity. We demand permanent relief and affordable fuel. We demand an economy that works for the people.”

Labour issues ultimatum

Nigeria’s labour movement has issued a two-week ultimatum to the government demanding an immediate reduction in petrol prices, the start of negotiations for a new national minimum wage and the implementation of outstanding agreements with health workers, warning of industrial action if the demands are not met.

The ultimatum was contained in a communique issued after a joint meeting of the Nigeria Labour Congress and its affiliates, signed by NLC President Joe Ajaero.

The meeting said it noted, “with profound alarm the deepening misery inflicted on the Nigerian working class and the broader masses by the neo-liberal policies of the federal government.”

It said inflation continues to soar, the naira remains “traumatised,” wages have been rendered worthless and the cost of living has become unbearable.

“The ruling elite, acting as enforcers of global monopoly capital, have demonstrated a worrying indifference to the suffering of the people, choosing instead to transfer the burden of their fiscal negligence onto the already impoverished working masses,” the communique said.

It declared that “no society can sustainably develop under a regime of corporate plunder and neo-liberal enslavement.”

The congress said the current national minimum wage had been rendered worthless by the depreciation of the naira and rising living costs, adding that workers could no longer afford food, shelter, healthcare, transportation and education on their current wages.

It demanded that the government commence renegotiation of the national minimum wage before the end of October, calling for “a living wage that reflects the true cost of living and the dignity of the Nigerian worker.”

“Any further delay by the federal government remains unacceptable,” the communique said.

The Presidency earlier warned against “fake news” claiming the government had reintroduced subsidy, with presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga stressing the policy was “a margin discount at NNPC stations” and not a return to the subsidy regime ended in 2023.