Lokpobiri also rejected the argument that petrol should be significantly cheaper because it is refined locally at the Dangote Refinery.
By Kehinde Okeowo
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has attributed the rising cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, to global market forces while absolving President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He made this known on Tuesday while appearing as a guest on the Channels Television programme Politics Today.
Lokpobiri was reacting to African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar’s call for a production subsidy that would make locally refined petrol cheaper for Nigerians.
Defending President Tinubu, the minister said he does not have the power to reduce the price of petrol because the downstream oil sector has been fully deregulated.
He added that petrol pricing is determined by global market forces, not by the Federal Government.
He said, “The Bola Tinubu government doesn’t have any power to reduce or increase the price of petrol. It is completely deregulated in line with global best standards.”
Lokpobiri further explained that crude oil and refined petroleum products are traded globally, meaning Nigeria cannot fix prices without returning to the fuel subsidy regime.
“Crude oil and refined products are a global business. Nigeria doesn’t exist in isolation. You cannot arbitrarily reduce prices unless you want to roll back to subsidies,” he added.
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While faulting Atiku Abubakar’s proposal for cheaper petrol for Nigerians, he dismissed it, saying the former Vice President has no legal basis, no fiscal basis, and no financial basis to carry out the plan.
The minister also rejected the argument that petrol should be significantly cheaper because it is refined locally at the Dangote Refinery.
He said locally produced crude is still sold to refineries at international market prices, making global pricing unavoidable.
“They sell crude to the refinery at the same global price,” he said.
However, he argued that Nigerians are still benefiting from local refining through improved fuel availability and lower prices compared to some other countries.
“We already benefit. That’s why our price is lower than that of the US,” Lokpobiri said.
He noted that even the United States, one of the world’s largest oil producers with extensive refining capacity, sells fuel at prices higher than Nigeria’s average pump price.
