CPPE Urges Targeted Relief as Petrol Price Rises to N1,430
By Aboki Forex —
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has asked the Federal Government to roll out socially sensitive measures to cushion the impact of higher petrol prices on households and businesses. The call came in a policy brief issued on Sunday by CPPE Chief Executive Officer Dr. Muda Yusuf, days after petrol prices rose from N1,300 to N1,430.
Yusuf said targeted interventions would work better and cost the treasury less than bringing back the universal fuel subsidy. Restoring subsidies, he argued, would reverse hard-won reforms and put more strain on public finances.
No return to universal subsidy
Yusuf listed transportation, logistics, electricity supply, food security, healthcare, education and social protection as areas needing immediate government action. Resources freed by subsidy removal, he said, should show up as better public services and infrastructure.
"Citizens must see tangible benefits through improved public transportation, electricity, healthcare, education, food security, infrastructure and social protection," he said.
He said the debate should now shift to how the money is spent rather than whether the subsidy returns. "The issue is increasingly one of fiscal accountability and expenditure quality. Federal, state and local governments must demonstrate transparently how the additional fiscal resources arising from the reform are improving economic and social outcomes."
The CPPE chief called for heavier investment in mass transit, affordable public transport, rail freight and logistics networks to cut transport costs and ease inflationary pressure. He also wants faster rollouts of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), solar projects and other distributed energy solutions to reduce reliance on petrol.
Support for MSMEs and food production
Yusuf pressed for targeted support for vulnerable households and productive enterprises, especially micro, small and medium-sized businesses still battling rising operating costs. He backed policies to lower energy, logistics and financing costs so businesses can compete and keep running.
On food security, he called for more investment in irrigation, rural infrastructure, agricultural logistics and productivity initiatives to boost domestic food output and moderate food inflation. All tiers of government, he said, should share the burden of cushioning the effects of fuel price increases.
"The CPPE recognises that the current petrol-price escalation presents a serious cost-of-living, inflation and competitiveness challenge requiring urgent intervention," he said. "However, restoring the pre-reform universal subsidy regime is neither fiscally sustainable nor economically prudent. The appropriate policy direction is to preserve the downstream petroleum reforms while aggressively mitigating their social and economic costs."
Transparency and the subsidy debate
Yusuf said greater transparency in managing the extra revenues accruing to federal, state and local governments would build public confidence in the reform. "The more consequential issue is how Nigeria can convert the gains of the reform into lower structural costs, stronger domestic production, improved competitiveness, greater energy security and measurable improvements in citizens' welfare. That is the pathway to making the reform economically sustainable and socially defensible."
The recommendations come amid renewed debate over subsidy removal. Last month, Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) Chairman Zacch Adedeji said the fuel subsidy bill could have climbed to about N53 trillion, with the naira possibly weakening to around N3,500 per dollar, if the regime had been kept. He argued on Channels Television that subsidies were unsustainable because government borrowed to buy petrol at higher prices and sold it below cost. President Bola Tinubu has repeatedly defended the removal, saying it averted a fiscal crisis and freed resources for development.
Higher pump prices feed straight into transport and logistics bills, which businesses pass on to consumers. How quickly the CNG and mass transit plans move will shape how hard that cost lands on the naira and on Nigerian household budgets.