By Seun Ibiyemi
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called on the Federal Government to prioritise strategic market stabilisation over price suppression to cushion the inflationary impact of rising fuel prices.
The Director-General of LCCI, Chinyere Almona, made the call in a statement issued on Tuesday in Lagos.
Almona said the surge in global crude oil prices to about $112 per barrel, alongside the fourth upward review of gantry prices by the Dangote Refinery to approximately N1,245 per litre, signals mounting pressure in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market.
According to her, the development is already triggering inflationary shocks across key sectors, including transportation, food, and industrial production.
She noted that Nigeria’s persistent fuel affordability challenge reflects a structural supply deficit, with daily petrol demand estimated at over 50 to 53 million litres exceeding effective domestic refining capacity.
“In this context, government intervention must be anchored on strategic market stabilisation rather than price suppression,” Almona said.
She recommended targeted and time-bound support for critical sectors such as transportation, agriculture, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to mitigate inflationary spillovers, while avoiding inefficient blanket subsidies.
The LCCI director-general also stressed the need to stabilise the naira through improved foreign exchange liquidity and stronger policy coordination, noting the significant impact of exchange rate fluctuations on fuel pricing.
Almona emphasised the importance of policy clarity and consistency to boost investor confidence in Nigeria’s deregulated petroleum sector.
While higher crude oil prices could offer fiscal gains, she said Nigeria’s benefits remain limited due to production constraints and structural inefficiencies.
“The dominant impact is adverse: cost-push inflation intensifies, industrial competitiveness weakens, and household purchasing power declines,” she said.
She warned that rising energy costs would continue to erode business margins and slow economic growth, deepening macroeconomic vulnerabilities.
Almona called for urgent measures to increase crude oil production to supply local refineries, urging the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to enforce domestic crude supply obligations under the Petroleum Industry Act.
She said this would ensure consistent allocation of over 300,000 barrels per day to local refineries, particularly the Dangote Refinery.
The LCCI boss further advocated for a transparent and scalable naira-for-crude framework to reduce foreign exchange exposure, lower production costs, and stabilise output.
At the regulatory level, she urged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to implement a rules-based pricing framework that reflects verifiable cost structures while preventing abuse of market dominance without undermining deregulation.
She also called for accelerated operationalisation of licensed and modular refineries to reduce supply concentration risks, while maintaining strategic imports as a short-term measure to stabilise prices.
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Almona maintained that sustainable fuel price moderation would not be achieved through administrative controls but through structural reforms that expand domestic supply, encourage competition, and strengthen transparency across the value chain.
She added that beyond meeting domestic fuel needs, Nigeria should pursue a broader restructuring of the oil and gas sector to position itself as an alternative supplier to African countries and Europe.
“With disciplined execution and strong public-private collaboration, Nigeria can turn the current challenge into an opportunity to build a more resilient, competitive, and self-sufficient energy ecosystem,” she said.
