Tinubu aide says similar policy was tested under Obasanjo and abandoned after refinery output slumped….
The Presidency has challenged former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal for the government to subsidise crude supplied to local refineries, arguing that a similar policy was attempted during his time in office and produced poor results.
Otega Ogra, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Digital and New Media, raised the objection in a series of posts on X while responding to Atiku’s renewed call for a production subsidy for domestic refineries.
Atiku has argued that subsidising crude for local refiners could help reduce production costs and make petroleum products more affordable.
But Ogra said the proposal was not new, insisting that Nigeria had previously experimented with the approach during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, when Atiku served as vice-president.
“Excuse me, sir. Nigeria already tried your production-subsidy to local refineries idea while you were Vice President. We know the shambolic results of that production subsidy. You know it too.”
Ogra cited refinery utilisation figures from the period to support his argument.
He said utilisation at the Warri Refinery fell to 14.27 percent in 2003 and 9.1 percent in 2004, while the Kaduna Refinery recorded utilisation rates of 15.96 percent and 26 percent in the same years.
He also pointed to the performance of the Port Harcourt Refinery, saying its utilisation declined from 60.73 percent in 2001 to 31.04 percent in 2004.
According to Ogra, the decline in refinery performance occurred even as the government was pursuing the subsidy policy.
“Meanwhile, price of petrol more than tripled by 2004 and nearly quadrupled by the time you left office despite your production subsidy to local refiners,” he said.
Ogra further claimed that the policy was eventually discontinued by the Obasanjo administration.
“On October 9, 2003, your same administration cancelled the discount itself through Presidential directive PRES/158.”
He said former President Obasanjo subsequently directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to pay the full international price for crude supplied to the country’s refineries.
“President Obasanjo ordered NNPC to pay full international price for refinery crude. Your production subsidy was tried, failed and scrapped, with you as Vice President.”
‘Where is the evidence that it worked?’
Ogra said Atiku should explain why Nigerians should support a policy that he claimed had already failed when previously implemented.
“So, before selling Nigerians this failed production subsidy policy again, answer one simple question.”
“I know there are many Nigerians who were too young to know what was happening then. But if you may tell them, where is the evidence that it worked the first time?”
He argued that the economic conditions may have changed, but the underlying policy proposal remained similar.
“It’s still the same theory you practiced then, and we haven’t changed country yet.”
“One thing we already have, are the failed results of that experiment, Alhaji.”
Atiku’s proposal and the Presidency’s response have added another dimension to the growing debate over how Nigeria should reduce fuel costs, strengthen domestic refining and ensure local refineries have adequate access to crude.
The dispute also comes as Nigeria’s refining industry undergoes significant changes, with large-scale private refining capacity increasingly becoming central to discussions about the country’s long-term fuel supply.
