Nigeria minister rejects return to blanket petrol subsidy

Nigeria’s finance minister, Taiwo Oyedele, rejected calls to restore a blanket petrol subsidy, saying it would cost more than N20 trillion a year and could worsen the economic pressures it is intended to ease. He said the government would instead pursue temporary price relief and targeted support for consumers and businesses. Speaking at a briefing in Abuja on October 8, Oyedele estimated that returning petrol to its pre-2023 reform price would cost more than N20 trillion annually. Fixing the price at N500 per litre would still cost more than N16 trillion a year, he said, before accounting for increased consumption and smuggling. Oyedele projected that restoring the subsidy could weaken the naira to about N3,000 per dollar within months and push petrol to at least N2,000 per litre. Those figures were his estimates of possible consequences, not reported outcomes. He argued that the subsidy would shift fuel costs onto public finances rather than lower the underlying cost of supply, potentially putting pressure on government spending and foreign reserves. The minister said the removal of the subsidy had released N15.