By Nathaniel Irobi
Seyi Makinde, presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), has firmly ruled out a return to the old fuel subsidy regime, saying instead that Nigerians deserve a transparent pricing system that delivers cheaper petrol.
Speaking on Monday at the commissioning of the APM presidential campaign headquarters in Abuja, the Oyo State governor clarified his position on the controversial petroleum pricing debate, which he said had been widely misconstrued.
Makinde noted that some Nigerians had interpreted his recent comments on petrol pricing as a call for the restoration of the former subsidy regime—an impression he moved swiftly to correct .
“That is not my position,” he declared. “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 the logic behind pricing crude oil supplied to domestic refineries as if Nigeria were not a producer, emphasising that the country’s oil wealth must deliver tangible benefits to its citizens .
“So why should crude oil supplied to Nigerian refineries be priced as though Nigeria does not produce crude oil? Nigeria’s oil must provide a real and measurable benefit to Nigerians,” Makinde stated .
Under his proposal, the benefit of domestic crude production would be embedded in the supply price for local refineries rather than introduced through opaque interventions at the retail pump after inefficiencies had accumulated across the value chain .
“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 explained .
Makinde called for complete transparency across the entire petroleum value chain—from production and domestic crude allocation to refining, transportation, distribution, taxation, and retail margins—arguing that Nigerians must be able to understand how the final pump price is determined .
“Nigerians should know what they are paying for, who receives what and where inefficiencies are increasing the final price,” he said. “That is what it means to Reset Nigeria” .
The governor also rejected the argument that Nigerians should bear higher petrol costs to eliminate the price differential that encourages smuggling into neighbouring countries, insisting that securing the nation’s borders is the government’s responsibility .
“Nigerians should not be made to bear the cost of government’s inability to secure its borders,” he stated .
Makinde maintained that the petroleum debate should not be reduced to a binary choice between subsidy and full market prices, but rather focused on establishing a fair pricing framework suited to Nigeria’s circumstances as an oil-producing nation .
“Reset Nigeria means being willing to interrogate the system itself,” he said. “The petroleum question should therefore not simply be whether subsidy should return or remain removed. It should be whether the pricing system we are using is the right one for Nigeria and whether it allows Nigerians to derive a fair benefit from the natural resources they own” .
Addressing sceptics who have dismissed his presidential campaign, Makinde drew on his experience as a political underdog who defied expectations in Oyo State .
“When they say today that this campaign does not count, I do not take it personally. What they are really saying is that the hopes of millions of Nigerians do not count,” he said .
He urged Nigerians to actively participate in the “Reset Nigeria” conversation, describing it as an initiative to promote transparent government, accountable leadership, and responsible management of national resources .
“We count. Our voices count. Our experiences count. Our ideas count. And, together, our votes will count,” Makinde declared.
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