Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, presidential candidate of Accord, says petrol can be sold at N605 per litre if elected president of Nigeria.
On May 26, Olawepo-Hashim announced his intention to run for
president on Accord’s platform.
However, in June, Accord disowned Olawepo-Hashim, a former
chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as its presidential candidate
for the 2027 elections.
In a statement, Maxwell Mgbudem, Accord national chairman,
said the party did not conduct a presidential primary, adding that reports
portraying Olawepo-Hashim as its standard-bearer for the 2027 elections were
false.
Mgbudem said the party’s presidential primary was cancelled
because no aspirant purchased expression of interest and nomination forms for
the office of president before the deadline.
Despite this development, Olawepo-Hashim has continued to
campaign as the party’s presidential candidate.
‘NOBODY WILL BUY PETROL ABOVE N610 UNDER OUR GOVERNMENT’
Speaking in an interview, Olawepo-Hashim said the price
could potentially fall to between N200 and N300 if production costs and the
exchange rate are stabilised.
He said the proposed N605 price would not amount to an
artificial subsidy.
Olawepo-Hashim noted that the price could be achieved
without reducing government revenue or allocations to the federation account
allocation committee (FAAC) revenues.
“N605 per litre is our starting sustainable price for
petrol. Nobody will buy petrol above N610 under our government. It could be as
low as N200,” Olawepo-Hashim said.
“N605 is the starting sustainable price. If we get
production costs right and achieve the exchange-rate target, the price could
come down to N200 or N300.”
He said the focus should be on determining the actual cost
of producing, refining, transporting and distributing petrol in Nigeria, rather
than automatically benchmarking domestic prices against international market
prices.
The Accord presidential candidate described the previous
justification for petrol subsidy removal as “accounting magic.”
He added that the difference between the domestic price and
an international benchmark should not automatically be classified as a subsidy
loss.
“Any time you sell a product above its legitimate cost of
production, refining, transportation and insurance, you cannot call the
difference between that price and an international benchmark a subsidy loss.
That is the opportunity cost,” he said.
Olawepo-Hashim said Nigeria needed an independent forensic
audit of the petroleum value chain to establish the actual cost of delivering a
litre of petrol to consumers.
According to him, the auditing should cover crude oil
production, contracting, procurement, refining, transportation, storage,
insurance, pipeline operations and distribution.
“Show Nigerians the books. Publish the production cost.
Publish the refinery cost. Publish transportation. Publish insurance. Publish
every margin. Let the data speak,” Olawepo-Hashim said.
He said the high cost of petroleum products should not
simply be passed on to consumers without first examining the factors
responsible for the cost.
“Before asking Nigerians to pay more, the government must
first explain why it costs so much to produce our own oil. If the cost is
genuine, show us the evidence. If it is inefficiency, corruption or inflated
contracting, fix it,” he said.
He said Nigerians are “effectively bearing” the cost of
inefficiencies in the petroleum sector through higher production costs and pump
prices.
“The Nigerian people should not pay for inefficiency twice.
They should not pay for inflated costs inside the system and then be told that
the resulting high price is the inevitable consequence of subsidy removal.”
Olawepo-Hashim said his proposed pricing framework would be
anchored on appropriate production costs and exchange rates.
‘WE’LL TARGET AN EXCHANGE RATE BETWEEN N525 AND N700 PER DOLLAR’
He said an Accord government would target an exchange rate
of between N525 and N700 to the dollar to reduce the naira cost of
petroleum-sector inputs and ease pressure across the wider economy.
“We will achieve this strictly by ensuring appropriate
production cost and appropriate exchange rate,” Olawepo-Hashim explained.
He argued that lowering the pump price would not come at the
expense of government revenue.
“The reduction will not be at the detriment of government
revenue or below current FAAC. We are not going to make petrol cheaper by
making the government poorer,” he said.
“Our objective is not simply cheap petrol. Our objective is
a productive Nigerian economy in which affordable energy, stronger production
and stronger government revenue reinforce one another.
He maintained that government intervention in petrol pricing
should not automatically be considered illegitimate, provided it was
transparent, targeted and tied to measurable economic objectives.
“The issue is not whether the government can intervene. The
issue is whether government intervention is transparent, productive and
accountable. Subsidy should protect Nigerians and the productive economy, not
enrich intermediaries,” he said.
“Let the data speak. Tell Nigerians exactly what it costs to
produce the crude, what it costs to refine it, what it costs to transport it
and what every margin represents. Then we can have an honest conversation about
subsidy.”
“Nigeria does not have to choose between affordable petrol
and government revenue. We can have both. But we must stop using accounting to
hide inefficiency and start using economics to build prosperity,” he said.
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