Paul Ibe, media aide to the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has slammed the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Oil, Heineken Lokpobiri, over his claim that petrol is cheaper in Nigeria than in the United States.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ibe stated that nominal pump prices do not provide a meaningful measure of affordability without considering income and purchasing power.
His remark came after Lokpobiri defended Nigeria’s petrol pricing during an interview on Channels.
DAILY POST recalls that Lokpobiri had said the country could not arbitrarily reduce the price of petrol to N1,000, N800 or N700 per litre because crude oil and refined petroleum products are traded in the global market.
He was responding to questions about why Nigerians should continue to bear the impact of international crude prices despite the country having crude oil and increasing local refining capacity.
According to him, Nigeria was already benefiting from local production and refining, which he said had helped keep the domestic pump price below that of the United States.Nigeria travel guides
Reacting, Ibe said four weeks of earnings at the US federal minimum wage could purchase roughly 981 litres at prevailing American pump prices.
“The real question is not whether a litre of petrol costs more in America,” Ibe argued, stressing that affordability should be assessed against income and the broader cost of living.
Atiku’s aide further stated that Nigerians spend a significant portion of their incomes on food, transportation, rent, electricity and healthcare, leaving households with limited purchasing power to absorb higher petrol prices.
He equally linked petrol costs to wider economic pressures, noting that Nigeria’s dependence on road transportation and generators means increases in fuel prices can affect the cost of food, transportation and production.
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