Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has backed calls by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) for government intervention to reduce rising petrol prices.
Atiku, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, said Thursday that IPMAN’s position had weakened the argument used by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to justify the removal of petrol subsidies.
IPMAN President Abubakar Maigandi recently urged Tinubu to work with domestic refiners, including the Dangote refinery, to bring down petrol prices.
The call came as petrol prices rose to between 1,310 naira and 1,350 naira per liter at some filling stations.
Reacting through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the marketers understood the effect of expensive petrol because they buy, distribute and sell the product every day.
“IPMAN has come late to this conversation, but it has come to the right conclusion,” Atiku said.
“The association is now saying that government cannot simply stand aside while petrol prices punish Nigerians and that deliberate subsidy around domestic refining can help bring prices down.”
Atiku said his proposal was different from the subsidy system his critics oppose, arguing that support for domestic refining could lower prices while strengthening local production.
“Tinubu’s argument has always depended on deliberately confusing the import-subsidy bazaar and a transparent, production-linked intervention that strengthens Nigerian refining,” he said.
Atiku has previously called for the return of fuel subsidies if elected. Tinubu’s administration has maintained that removing the subsidy was necessary to stabilise the economy.
Meanwhile, petrol marketers have continued to complain about rising prices and weak consumer demand.
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