By Mary Onyia
Accord Party presidential aspirant, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has joined the growing political chorus for cheaper petrol, arguing that Nigerians could pay about N605 per litre if the government changes the way domestic crude is priced. He made the proposal while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, describing the fuel-subsidy debate as “accounting magic.”
Olawepo-Hashim said the price of petrol was being inflated by the government’s domestic crude-pricing structure. “The truth of it is that the price is currently inflated. By who? By the government,” he said. He cited a production cost of about $30 per barrel, adding margins for production, refining, transportation and insurance, and argued that the resulting cost could support a substantially lower pump price. “You cannot price your local products at international price,” he said.
His position closely mirrors that of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Presidential candidat Atiku Abubakar, who has also called for cheaper fuel through intervention in domestic refining rather than a return to the old subsidy system. Atiku has reaffirmed that he would restore a targeted subsidy, while his campaign says the focus would be on making crude available to local refineries at affordable rates.
The convergence places petrol affordability firmly among the emerging economic issues of the 2027 presidential contest. While Olawepo-Hashim puts his proposed starting price at N605, Atiku’s position similarly seeks to lower energy and transport costs and ease the burden of subsidy removal. Olawepo-Hashim insists, however, that the real issue is transparency: “Let’s see what it costs to produce a barrel of crude in Nigeria.”