By Seun Ibiyemi
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has defended the Federal Government’s fuel price relief initiative through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), insisting that the intervention does not amount to a reversal of Nigeria’s petroleum subsidy removal policy.
The organisation said the initiative was a temporary response to an extraordinary global energy shock rather than a return to the previous subsidy regime, warning that interpreting it as a policy reversal could misrepresent the government’s current economic strategy.
In a statement issued on October 13, 2026, the Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, attributed the recent escalation in petroleum product prices principally to geopolitical tensions in the global energy market, which have pushed crude oil prices above $100 per barrel.
According to Yusuf, the development constitutes an external shock affecting both oil-producing and oil-importing countries and should not be viewed as a consequence of Nigeria’s decision to remove petrol subsidies.
He argued that governments could introduce temporary relief measures to protect households and businesses during extraordinary economic disruptions without abandoning their broader economic reform programmes.
“Economic policies are instruments for promoting citizens’ welfare; they should not become rigid doctrines that prevent governments from responding to exceptional social and economic difficulties,” he said.
Yusuf said the scale and structure of the current intervention distinguish it significantly from the former nationwide petrol subsidy arrangement.
Under the previous regime, the government effectively bore a substantial portion of the cost of petrol consumed nationwide, with daily consumption estimated at between 50 million and 90 million litres at various times.
He noted that the arrangement imposed enormous fiscal pressures on the government, crowded out development spending, weakened public finances and contributed to macroeconomic instability.
By contrast, the current intervention reportedly covers approximately 70 million litres of NNPC fuel supply monthly, compared with estimated national petrol consumption of 50 million litres daily.
The CPPE chief executive maintained that the initiative does not restore an administered national petrol price, impose a general subsidy obligation on private operators or dismantle the market-oriented framework for petroleum product pricing.
He said these differences were critical to understanding why the intervention should not be equated with a return to the former subsidy system.
The business policy organisation also argued that NNPC’s status as a government-owned commercial enterprise does not prevent it from undertaking clearly defined public-interest interventions during exceptional economic circumstances.
Yusuf acknowledged that commercial discipline should ordinarily guide the company’s operations but maintained that temporary relief measures could be accommodated within an appropriate governance framework.
He, however, stressed that such interventions must be transparent, proportionate, time-bound and financially sustainable.
According to him, government ownership provides an opportunity to deploy public assets strategically in response to exceptional circumstances, but it does not justify an indefinite departure from commercial principles.
He called for a balance between NNPC’s commercial sustainability and legitimate public-interest obligations, rather than treating the two objectives as mutually exclusive.
The organisation reiterated its support for the removal of the previous petroleum subsidy, describing the policy as a necessary structural reform.
Yusuf warned that reinstating a broad-based consumption subsidy would recreate significant fiscal vulnerabilities and economic distortions, particularly given Nigeria’s infrastructure deficits, debt-servicing obligations and competing development priorities.
He said the government should preserve the credibility of its economic reforms while adopting targeted measures to cushion citizens against severe external shocks.
The CPPE maintained that a limited and temporary intervention should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of declining policy credibility.
It added that investors were more concerned about policy predictability, market access, commercial viability, fiscal sustainability and the protection of legitimate investments.
According to Yusuf, the current initiative would not necessarily undermine investor confidence provided the government avoided imposing commercially unviable prices, discriminating against private operators or introducing restrictions that distort competition.
He emphasised that private-sector participation remained central to the downstream petroleum market and that preserving a competitive environment was essential to sustaining investment.
Beyond the fuel price relief initiative, the organisation urged the Federal and state governments to introduce broader interventions capable of addressing the wider social and economic consequences of rising energy prices.
Yusuf identified affordable mass transportation as a major priority, noting that higher fuel costs directly affect commuting expenses, business operating costs and household purchasing power.
He recommended increased investment in high-capacity buses, including compressed natural gas-powered vehicles, electric buses and other economically viable alternatives.
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According to him, targeted support for public transportation could deliver broader benefits than limited petrol discounts by reducing commuting costs for low-income workers, students and small-business operators.
He added that affordable mass transit could improve labour mobility, reduce operating expenses for small enterprises and stimulate economic activity.
The CPPE also called for targeted interventions to improve agricultural productivity and stabilise food supply, warning that rising energy costs affect virtually every stage of agricultural production and distribution.
These include land preparation, irrigation, mechanisation, transportation, storage and food distribution.
Yusuf urged the government to improve farmers’ access to fertilisers, agrochemicals, agricultural machinery and other productivity-enhancing inputs.
He said reducing the cost of food production and distribution should take precedence over relying predominantly on general consumption subsidies.
The organisation further called on state and local governments to share responsibility for protecting vulnerable households against the effects of the energy price shock.
It suggested that state governments consider discounted fuel outlets, subsidised public transportation and targeted assistance for vulnerable citizens.
However, it stressed that such programmes should have clear eligibility criteria, defined implementation periods, transparent funding arrangements and safeguards against diversion.
The organisation also urged the government to protect the integrity of petroleum market reforms by sustaining market-based pricing, fair competition, transparent regulation and a trade policy framework supportive of domestic refining investment.
Yusuf maintained that Nigeria needed a credible system of temporary, targeted and transparent social protection to respond to exceptional economic shocks without returning to the fiscal difficulties associated with the former subsidy regime.
He said the priority should be to protect vulnerable citizens, preserve public finance sustainability and maintain the credibility of ongoing economic reforms.
“The current global energy crisis demands pragmatic policy responses, not ideological rigidity,” Yusuf said, adding that economic reforms must remain sustainable while responding to the welfare needs of citizens.
He concluded that the NNPC fuel price relief initiative should be assessed according to its scale, duration, market coverage and fiscal implications rather than automatically characterised as a reversal of the petroleum subsidy removal policy.
