By Gabriel Ewepu
ABUJA — The Centre for the Promotion of Public Enterprise (CPPE) has called for a decisive shift from chronic import dependence to a competitive domestic refining ecosystem, warning that unchecked Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) imports could undermine Nigeria’s refining industry and energy security.
The Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, made the call in a statement on Sunday, amid concerns over rising petrol prices and increased PMS imports.
Yusuf said petroleum-product imports should serve as a transparent mechanism for addressing verified supply gaps rather than operate as a parallel market that displaces adequate domestic production.
He warned that where local refineries can supply petroleum products of acceptable quality and quantity at competitive prices, indiscriminate import licensing could undermine investment, job creation, foreign exchange conservation, industrialisation and national energy security.
According to him, Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market is at a critical transition point, with large-scale private refining having expanded domestic capacity and reduced the structural justification for continued dependence on imported petroleum products.
He said recent regulatory data showed a sharp increase in PMS imports, with average daily imports rising from 5.9 million litres in May 2026 to 18.1 million litres in June, representing a 206.8 per cent increase.
Imports rose further to 19.7 million litres per day in July, accounting for 43.3 per cent of total PMS receipts, compared with 12.4 per cent in May.
Yusuf said CPPE did not oppose imports needed to address genuine and independently verified supply shortfalls, noting that imports remained a legitimate contingency measure during refinery outages, seasonal demand spikes, quality gaps and strategic-stock replenishment.
“The policy concern arises where import permits are issued without a transparent demonstration that domestic refiners cannot meet the relevant demand at acceptable standards and competitive market terms,” he said.
He said the distinction was central to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), particularly Sections 317(8) and (9), which contemplate petroleum-product import licensing in the context of domestic supply shortfalls.
He urged the regulator to exercise its discretion transparently and consistently with Nigeria’s domestic refining and industrialisation objectives.
“Nigeria has reached a point where downstream policy must shift decisively from managing chronic import dependence to building a competitive domestic refining ecosystem.
“Allowing imports without a transparent, verified shortfall would squander an historic opportunity to conserve foreign exchange, create jobs, deepen industrial linkages and strengthen energy security,” Yusuf said.
He said the appropriate policy was a rules-based regime in which efficient domestic producers received a fair opportunity to serve the Nigerian market, while imports were used only to close demonstrable gaps and consumers remained protected.
Yusuf stressed that deregulation did not imply regulatory indifference to the structure of supply, adding that the regulator must balance consumer protection and supply security with the PIA’s domestic-supply framework.
He warned that where domestic supply was adequate, import permits could suppress refinery offtake, reduce utilisation rates and transfer demand, income and employment abroad.
The CPPE boss urged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to go beyond licensing and supply monitoring by establishing predictable rules that would encourage investment in refining, storage, pipelines, marine logistics and distribution.
“Frequent or unexplained reversals in import policy increase uncertainty and raise the risk premium on downstream investment,” he said.
Yusuf called on NMDPRA to publish product-by-product supply-gap determinations before approving significant import volumes and give qualified domestic refiners a fair, time-bound opportunity to meet verified demand.
He also urged the Authority to restrict import permits to quantified residual gaps, set defined validity periods and publish monthly data on permits, landed imports and domestic evacuation.
According to him, NMDPRA should publish verified refinery output, domestic evacuation, inventories, consumption, exports, committed deliveries, landed imports and stock-sufficiency days for each petroleum product.
He further recommended that before approving significant import volumes, the regulator should disclose the size, product, geographical scope, quality specifications, duration and evidence supporting the identified supply shortfall.
Other recommendations included auditing refinery and importer performance, enforcing “use-it-or-lose-it” rules on permits, applying equal standards and full transparency, establishing an emergency-import trigger, securing crude supply for domestic refineries, strengthening competition oversight and adopting an industrialisation impact test for downstream regulatory decisions.
“This is not a call for monopoly or blanket protection. It is a call for systematic, rules-based regulation that makes competition fair, protects consumers and supports domestic productive capacity,” Yusuf said.
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