By Sabiu Abdullahi
Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 election, Adewole Adebayo, has promised to reduce the prices of petrol, cooking gas and aviation fuel to N200 per litre if he wins the 2027 presidential election.
Adebayo made the pledge on Sunday in Abuja during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He said his proposed pricing policy would take effect within 12 months of assuming office.
According to him, his administration would focus on reviving the country’s existing refineries while also supporting modular refineries to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported refined petroleum products.
He argued that the age of Nigeria’s refineries should not prevent the government from rehabilitating them. He cited refineries in the United States that have remained operational for more than a century.
“SDP will pick cooking gas, petrol and Jet A1; those three, we will put them under a regime where the price does not go past N200,” he said.
Adebayo said his plan would include the restoration of what he described as the original subsidy arrangement, under which 450,000 barrels of crude oil are set aside for domestic consumption.
He explained that the crude would be processed locally, while the sale of other petroleum products such as naphtha, heavy fuel oil, diesel and kerosene would generate funds to sustain the proposed pricing system.
The SDP candidate said his party would collaborate with the National Assembly to create a framework that would allow revenue from other petroleum derivatives to support the scheme.
He maintained that Nigeria should concentrate on developing adequate domestic refining capacity rather than relying on imported petroleum products sold at international prices.
According to him, the country already possesses two major resources needed to achieve this goal: crude oil and existing refining infrastructure.
Adebayo also said the prolonged debate over fuel subsidy had shifted attention away from what he considered the deeper challenges affecting Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
He dismissed the argument that subsidy removal alone would solve the country’s financial difficulties, describing such a position as a “red herring”.
He further said Nigerians would not be subjected to petrol subsidy under an SDP administration, as he does not consider subsidy a government economic programme.
On transportation, Adebayo proposed a policy that would combine lower petroleum prices with improvements in public transportation and railway services.
He said workers and students would have access to public transport through their employment and student identification cards. Employers, he added, would contribute six per cent of workers’ salaries towards transportation.
He said the measures would reduce the cost of transportation and boost economic activities across the country.
The presidential candidate also proposed that housing costs should be capped at seven per cent of workers’ salaries, while education and healthcare would be provided free of charge.
“The summary of it is that transportation costs cannot go more than six percent of your salary and housing costs should not be more than seven percent of your salary, education and healthcare should be free,” he said.
Adebayo added that agriculture and food security would receive priority under his administration, with the aim of making food more affordable for Nigerians.
