The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has promised to reduce the prices of petrol, cooking gas and aviation fuel, Jet A1, to ₦200 per litre if elected president in 2027.
He said the reduction would be achieved within 12 months by rehabilitating Nigeria’s existing refineries and creating an enabling environment for modular refineries to operate. He maintained that the country’s decades-old refineries could still be made functional, pointing to older refineries in the United States that remain operational.
The SDP candidate also proposed restoring what he described as the original subsidy arrangement, under which 450,000 barrels of crude oil were reserved for domestic consumption. He said other products obtained from the crude, including naphtha, heavy fuel oil, diesel and kerosene, could be sold and the proceeds used to sustain the proposed price regime.
Adebayo said the focus should be on increasing Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity rather than importing refined petroleum products at international prices. He argued that Nigeria’s crude oil resources and existing infrastructure give the country an advantage that should be fully utilised.
“SDP will pick cooking gas, petrol and Jet A1; those three, we will put them under a regime where the price does not go past N200,” he said.
He added that the party would work with the National Assembly to create a mechanism for using revenue from other petroleum derivatives to support the proposed prices.
Adebayo also dismissed the argument that subsidy removal alone would solve Nigeria’s fiscal challenges, describing the debate as a “red herring.” He linked the proposed fuel price reduction to plans to expand public transportation and rail services, which he said would reduce reliance on private vehicles.
