The Federal Government has announced a 30-day discount on petrol dispensed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, with public transport operators nationwide set to receive priority under the intervention.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, announced the measure on Thursday at a press briefing in Abuja on fuel prices and subsidy-related questions.
Oyedele said the arrangement was not a return to petrol subsidy, explaining that the government was instead seeking to make petrol available at cost during the 30-day period.
“We are offering a discount on petrol dispensed by NNPC Limited for the next 30 days in the first instance with priority for public transporters nationwide,” Oyedele said.
The minister did not announce a specific per-litre value for the new 30-day discount in the details released from the briefing.
The announcement came shortly after an earlier NNPC Retail promotion offering motorists a ₦66-per-litre discount on petrol purchases through the NNPC Fuel App from October 1 to 7 as part of activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary. That promotion ended on Wednesday and is separate from the newly announced 30-day government intervention.
As part of the broader response to rising fuel costs, Oyedele also disclosed that the government was negotiating a ceiling of ₦1,350 per litre on the ex-gantry cost of petrol.
He said the proposed ceiling was intended to shield pump prices from sharp fluctuations caused by changes in international crude prices and exchange rates.
According to him, where the actual cost rises above the proposed ceiling, refiners and importers would bear the difference and recover it when market conditions become more favourable.
Oyedele described the arrangement as price modulation rather than a subsidy or conventional price control, saying the objective was to smooth out price fluctuations and provide greater predictability for consumers and businesses.
The government also said it was working on forward crude sales to domestic refiners and measures to increase local production, while reviewing taxes and levies that contribute to fuel and logistics costs.
The intervention comes amid renewed concerns over the impact of petrol prices on transportation, household expenses and business operating costs.
The Federal Government has maintained that it will not return to the former petrol subsidy regime, with President Bola Tinubu recently directing greater emphasis on cheaper alternatives such as compressed natural gas as part of efforts to reduce transportation costs.
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