Dino Melaye: Atiku’s Subsidy Plan Could Cut Petrol Price to ₦400–₦500

Dino Melaye: Atiku’s Subsidy Plan Could Cut Petrol Price to ₦400–₦500

By The Analyst Desk

ABUJA — Former Kogi West Senator Dino Melaye has said the proposed fuel subsidy policy of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar could bring the pump price of petrol down to between ₦400 and ₦500 per litre if implemented.

Melaye, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the claim during an appearance on Democracy Today, an AIT programme, while defending the party's proposal to restore fuel subsidy.

According to him, the policy is intended to reduce the cost of petroleum products and, by extension, ease pressure on transportation, the movement of goods and other sectors of the economy.

Melaye said the proposed intervention could reduce petrol from current levels of around ₦1,400 per litre to between ₦400 and ₦500.

He argued that lower petrol prices would have wider effects on the cost of transporting people and commodities, potentially reducing pressure on the prices of goods and services.

«“Once transportation is affected, movement of goods and commodities is affected,” Melaye said, stressing the importance of fuel prices to economic activity.»

The former senator also defended the concept of subsidy, arguing that the previous system had been undermined by corruption and diversion of public resources.

He said an Atiku-led administration would seek to redirect such resources towards consumers through a new subsidy arrangement.

Melaye further said the proposed policy would not be limited to petrol but could extend to other petroleum products, including diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel.

The comments come amid renewed political debate over the future of fuel pricing ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Atiku has previously argued for an intervention to make locally refined petroleum products cheaper, while maintaining that his proposal would differ from the old import-dependent subsidy system. A recent election-monitoring report said Atiku's camp has described the proposal as an affordability measure involving domestic refineries, budgetary limits and auditing mechanisms.

However, the projected ₦400–₦500 per litre price remains a political claim and would depend on several factors, including crude oil prices, refining costs, exchange rates, domestic production capacity and the structure and cost of any subsidy programme.

The Federal Government has previously opposed a return to the former subsidy regime, arguing that subsidy removal has freed resources for government and warning about the fiscal implications of reinstating it.

The debate is therefore increasingly centred not only on the pump price Nigerians would pay, but also on how any subsidy would be financed, administered and protected against the leakages that characterised previous arrangements.