Insists 4m bpd oil output achievable in 24 months
Pledges to end imports, targets N525-N700/$ exchange rate
Says local fuel pricing can’t be based solely on international crude prices
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Accord Party’s presidential candidate in the 2027 election, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, at the weekend explained how he hopes to achieve a N605 per litre in Nigeria, arguing that the current pricing structure amounts to an overvaluation of the commodity and imposes unnecessary costs on consumers.
Olawepo-Hashim, who spoke during an interview on Channels Television at the weekend, said the proposed price was based on a domestic crude cost of about $30 per barrel, additional refining and logistics costs, as well as an energy tax intended to support the development of alternative energy sources.
He also challenged the federal government’s approach to the naira, arguing that the currency was currently undervalued and that increased crude oil production, reduced petroleum imports and greater use of domestic crude for local refining could substantially improve Nigeria’s foreign exchange position.
According to him, the economics of domestic petroleum pricing should not be based entirely on international crude prices because oil-producing countries routinely make arrangements for domestic crude supplies to support local industries and energy security.
“The domestic crude price, according to NNPC statistics, is $30, which is one of the highest production costs in the world. Saudi Arabia is $10. If you give them a margin of $15 on top of that, which is 50 per cent margin, you end up with $45. If you allocate $5 for refining and then transport and insurance, $7, you end up with $57. At the end of the day, what this translates to is about $0.34, which is N501 at an exchange rate of N1,400,” he argued.
He said the N605 proposal deliberately provided an additional margin for investment in alternative energy, insisting that Nigeria should not encourage permanent dependence on cheap petrol at the expense of cleaner energy sources.
Olawepo-Hashim further argued that the country’s domestic crude should be priced differently from crude intended for export, describing international pricing as an “opportunity price”.
“Nobody sells domestic crude at international prices. Saudi Arabia does not do it. Kuwait does not do it. No oil-producing country in OPEC does what Nigeria is doing,” he said.
The Accord presidential candidate also criticised the continued importation of refined petroleum products, arguing that the government should prioritise the supply of domestic crude to Nigerian refineries, including the Dangote refinery and smaller private refineries.
He said the objective should be to transform Nigeria from a crude exporter dependent on imported petroleum products into a net producer of refined products and petrochemicals.
“Who in this world tries to rob his own local economy of that comparative advantage? The comparative advantage we have is that we are an energy-rich resource country. Then we should use that to drive industrialisation, not to begin to outprice that product in such a way that we are only focusing on exporting crude,” he said.
On the foreign exchange market, Olawepo-Hashim said the naira was being kept below what he considered its appropriate value, citing an International Monetary Fund (IMF) assessment that the currency was undervalued by 25.6 per cent.
He argued that increased domestic refining would reduce Nigeria’s demand for dollars, while higher crude production would increase foreign exchange earnings.
“If you look at all the indicators, there is no pressure any longer, as we see as the data has provided. There is no disparity, and there is no undulating effect, as we see, in the FX, in the exchange rate.
“IMF, the advocate of free-market fundamentalism, in their June report said Nigerian currency is currently undervalued by 25.6 per cent. Who is benefiting from this arbitrage? Some big people in this country are benefiting from undervaluation of the naira,” he maintained.
He said his administration, if elected, would target an exchange rate between N525 and N700 to the dollar, arguing that the objective would be pursued through increased production rather than administrative manipulation of the currency.
Olawepo-Hashim also promised to raise crude oil production to 4 million barrels per day within 24 months, arguing that Nigeria already had thousands of shut-in wells that could be brought back into production.
He cited a which, he said, identified about 3,000 shut-in wells, arguing that many could be restored within months once infrastructure and security constraints were addressed.
Rather than wait for private investors, the presidential candidate proposed direct government intervention to restore production, including investment in rigs and other equipment where necessary.
He also criticised what he described as excessive reliance on private capital for national development, arguing that government investment should create the conditions for private investors to follow.
Olawepo-Hashim, who repeatedly defended his economic proposals as practical rather than magical, said his confidence was based on his experience building businesses in the oil and gas sector.
Besides, Olawepo-Hashim said the combination of cheaper domestic energy, higher oil production, local refining and a stronger naira would form a central plank of his economic programme ahead of the 2027 presidential election.