Nigeria is moving to shield motorists from another petrol price shock, proposing a temporary cap of about ₦1,350 per litre as global oil prices surge amid escalating Middle East tensions.
Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele said the government wants refiners and fuel importers to absorb temporary increases in their costs, allowing them to recover losses when market conditions improve.
The proposal comes as soaring international oil prices threaten to intensify pressure on Nigerian households and businesses already struggling with high transport and living costs.
The government is also preparing a 30-day petrol discount programme under which fuel would be sold at cost, with public transport operators given priority in an effort to soften the impact of rising pump prices.
Officials are considering another measure aimed at shielding local refiners from global price swings: selling crude to them through forward contracts that would lock in feedstock prices.
Oyedele also warned that the government could impose a windfall tax on energy companies found to be profiteering at consumers’ expense. Revenue from such a tax could be channelled into transport subsidies and fuel vouchers for low-income urban workers.
The measures come as renewed fuel-price increases threaten to deepen Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis and create fresh pressure on President Bola Tinubu’s government ahead of the January elections.
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