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The Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has promised to reduce petrol prices to N200 per litre if elected president in 2027.
Adebayo made the pledge on Sunday during the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Personality Interview Series in Abuja.
He said he would achieve the target within his first year in office by reviving Nigeria’s existing refineries and creating an enabling environment for modular refineries to operate.
According to him, Nigeria’s refineries, most of which are less than 50 years old, remain serviceable and could meet the country’s needs with proper maintenance.
He noted that some refineries in the United States, more than a century old, are still operational.
Adebayo also said he would restore what he described as the original subsidy regime, under which 450,000 barrels of crude oil were reserved for domestic consumption.
“All other derivatives from the 450,000 barrels, like naphtha, heavy fuel oil, diesel, kerosene and others, will be sold, and the money used to maintain the regime price,” he said.
The SDP candidate said Nigeria’s priority should be to build sufficient domestic refining capacity rather than continue importing refined petroleum products at international prices.
He argued that the ongoing debate over petrol subsidies was distracting attention from deeper structural problems in the country’s petroleum sector.
“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.
“We will go to the National Assembly and demand to see that all the other derivatives that come from it, like naphtha and all others, when we sell them, we use the money to equalise the price,” he said.
Adebayo dismissed the argument that removing subsidies alone would resolve Nigeria’s fiscal challenges, describing the subsidy debate as a “red herring”.
He also proposed a transportation system that would allow workers and students to use employment and student identification cards to access public transport without paying directly, while employers would contribute six percent of workers’ salaries towards transportation.
According to him, the proposed measures, combined with cheaper petrol and aviation fuel, would lower transportation costs and stimulate economic activity.
Adebayo further pledged that an SDP administration would cap workers’ housing costs at seven per cent of their salaries while providing free education and healthcare.
