Seyi Makinde, presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), has rejected the return of petrol subsidy, saying efforts should instead be directed towards reducing the cost of petrol for Nigerians.
Makinde, who is also the governor of Oyo, spoke on Monday at
the commissioning of the APM presidential campaign office in Abuja.
He was addressing reactions to his recent newsletter, in
which he outlined his position on the petrol subsidy debate and his Reset
Nigeria Agenda.
In the newsletter issued on Thursday, Makinde said Nigerians
were asking the wrong questions in the debate over the gains from subsidy
removal.
He said rather than framing the issue as a choice between
subsidising petroleum products and allowing Nigerians to pay the full market
price, attention should be focused on how petrol prices are determined in an
oil-producing country such as Nigeria.
The governor said his position had been misconstrued by some
Nigerians as a call for the return of subsidy.
“That is not my position,” he said.
“Let me explain my position very simply with this example.
If a community grows food, the people of that community should not have to buy
that food as though it travelled halfway around the world before reaching
them.”
He questioned why crude oil supplied to Nigerian refineries
should be priced as though the country does not produce crude oil, saying that
Nigeria’s oil must provide a real and measurable benefit to Nigerians.
“That benefit should be built into the system from the
beginning, through the price at which crude oil is supplied for domestic
refining, not through an opaque intervention at the petrol pump after all the
costs, inefficiencies and distortions have been added,” he said.
The governor noted that there should also be greater
transparency in the petroleum value chain to enable Nigerians understand how
the pump price of petrol is determined.
“Nigerians must be able to see how the final price is
reached. We need complete transparency across the petroleum value chain—from
production and domestic crude allocation to refining, transportation,
distribution, taxes and retail margins,” he said.
“Nigerians should know what they are paying for, who
receives what and where inefficiencies are increasing the final price.”
This, he said, captures the essence of his Reset Nigeria
Agenda, urging the citizens to participate in the proposed conversation.
“We are opening another door for Nigerians to join the
conversation about the future of our country,” he said.
“A conversation about what must change. A conversation about
how we can make Nigeria work for every Nigerian. That is what Reset Nigeria is
about.”
The APM presidential candidate dismissed insinuations that
he is an underdog in the presidential race, saying the strength of his campaign
would come from Nigerians who shared his vision.
“Our voices count. Our experiences count. Our ideas count.
And, together, our votes will count,” he said.
“They may discount one candidate. But they cannot discount
millions of Nigerians united behind a better future. Let us build a country in
which government is transparent, leadership is accountable and Nigeria’s
resources work for the Nigerian people.”
His remarks come amid the ongoing subsidy removal
controversy which intensified in recent weeks with opposition presidential
candidates, including Atiku Abubakar, president candidate of the African
Democratic Congress (ADC), criticising the Bola Tinubu administration over its
handling of the funds saved from subsidy removal.
On August 19, Taiwo Oyedele, minister of finance and
coordinating minister of the economy, said the removal of the subsidy had
mobilised N15.8 trillion for the federation between June 2023 and December
2025.
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