Atiku Backs Dangote’s Pricing Warnings, Insists Local Refinery Support Will Crash Fuel Costs Without Forcing Losses

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has waded into the ongoing downstream petroleum debate, asserting that warnings issued by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery regarding price controls and policy shifts actually validate his proposed production-based subsidy model.

The clarification came via a statement issued by Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, following concerns highlighted in Dangote Refinery’s IPO prospectus. The refinery had cautioned prospective investors that sudden government interventions, price caps, or the reintroduction of broad-based subsidies could compress operating margins and complicate financial forecasting.

Addressing the development, Atiku agreed with the management of the mega-refinery, noting that it is economically reckless and unfair to compel a private investor to absorb losses or carry the financial burden of artificially imposed retail prices. However, he maintained that the Tinubu administration has deliberately distorted his economic blueprint to mislead the public.

“We are proposing a production subsidy, not an import subsidy,” Atiku stated. “We are not proposing to subsidise petrol refined abroad. We are not proposing to force Dangote or any other Nigerian refinery to sell below cost.”

Under the framework detailed in the Atiku Economic Recovery Plan (AERP), the strategy shifts financial support away from fuel importers and middlemen, focusing instead on providing domestic refineries with crude oil at a preferential, transparently regulated cost. Participating refiners would receive discounted feedstock subject to strict compliance criteria, including binding domestic-supply obligations and transparent pricing formulas designed to pass lower production costs down to everyday consumers.

Atiku stressed that unlike the defunct import subsidy regime—which drained public coffers to support foreign fuel supply chains—a localized production subsidy offers a measurable, traceable mechanism to lower transportation and energy expenses while protecting refinery viability.

The proposed framework incorporates strict safeguards, including a hard fiscal ceiling, maximum support levels per barrel, electronic tracking of crude intake and refined yields, and independent audits. Refineries that breach domestic supply requirements or divert supported volumes would face immediate termination of benefits alongside legal sanctions.

Challenging the federal government to an open policy debate, Atiku insisted that his model addresses both the legitimate business concerns of private refiners and the severe economic hardship faced by ordinary Nigerians, offering a viable path away from crippling fuel pump prices without returning to unsustainable import-subsidy debt.