The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students Engagement, Comrade Sunday Asefon, has attributed the recent increase in the pump price of petrol to about N1,400 per liter to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, rather than the removal of fuel subsidy.
Asefon, who is also the National Director of Students Engagement, City Boy Movement, said in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja that the conflict involving the United States, Iran, and Israel had disrupted the global oil market and pushed crude oil prices higher.
He said the development had increased the cost of petrol in Nigeria, arguing that the current price pressure should not be attributed solely to the Federal Government’s 2023 decision to remove petrol subsidy.
According to him, the Dangote Refinery and the Federal Government’s reforms in the downstream sector had helped Nigeria avoid a more severe fuel crisis, including widespread scarcity and higher pump prices.
Asefon said the Dangote Refinery, with a production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, had reduced Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products and provided some stability amid the global energy crisis.
He also highlighted the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative, saying it was attracting private investment and helping motorists reduce their fuel expenses.
ALSO READ: Subsidy removal: Tinubu, Atiku’s loyalists must come to the table with clean hands
“The Presidential CNG Initiative is expected to save Nigeria over ₦2 trillion monthly by cutting petrol imports. The CNG sector has attracted over $980 million in private investments in just 18 months, and the number of CNG-powered vehicles has risen from 4,000 to nearly 100,000,” he stated.
The presidential aide also cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), increased minimum wage and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) allowance, consumer credit, and other government interventions as benefits of the reforms.
He argued that returning to a fuel subsidy regime would undermine investments in local refining and restore Nigeria’s dependence on petroleum imports.
Asefon acknowledged the hardship caused by petrol prices but urged Nigerians to remain patient with the reforms. He said the geopolitical crisis would eventually ease while investments in domestic refining and alternative energy would continue to benefit the country.
He said Nigerians needed to distinguish between the long-term effects of subsidy removal and the immediate impact of the global oil-market crisis.
Asefon said: “Let me end with this: President Tinubu has said it before, there is no gain without pain. But the present pain is not going to be permanent.
“The Middle East war will end. The Strait of Hormuz will reopen fully. Global oil prices will stabilize. And when that happens, Nigeria will still have the 650,000 barrel per day Dangote Refinery, a growing CNG sector, a student loan scheme that is funding the next generation, and a tax system that is friendly to the poor.
“The subsidy removal was not a mistake. It was a necessary surgery.
The indicators have turned green. We should not allow the enemies of progress to deceive us into reversing the only policy that is building a self-sufficient energy future for this country.
“I am a student engagement aide to Mr. President, but I am first and foremost a Nigerian. And as a Nigerian, I am telling you not to let them deceive you. The pain is from geopolitics, not from the subsidy policy. And the gains of subsidy removal are emerging already. Let us stay the course. Nigeria will rise again,” he stated.