As petroleum product prices continue to surge on the back of the ongoing Middle East crisis, Minister of Finance Wale Edun has defended the hike, describing current prices as a reflection of market realities and urging Nigerians to be grateful that the country now possesses the capacity to refine crude oil locally.
Edun made the remarks during an exclusive interview aired on Wednesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, as rising fuel costs continue to drive up transportation expenses and compound the economic pressures faced by ordinary Nigerians.
“The market price for petroleum products is what has been instilled by Mr. President — a mechanism that was missing for so long. It is important to understand that this is not a one-way street,” the minister said.
Pointing to the recent price adjustments by the Dangote Refinery as evidence of the market mechanism working as intended, Edun added, “We have seen Dangote reduce prices from around 1,200 naira to just over 1,000 or 1,050 naira; those are the natural dynamics of the market.”
The minister argued that Nigeria’s economic resilience was being underpinned significantly by the Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest, which began petrol production in 2024 and has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
“The resilience that the Nigerian economy has is coming largely from the fact that we do have that investment by the private sector, by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, in refining, and we need to support our refiners just as others are supporting them to keep petroleum products flowing,” he said.
“I think we should be thankful at this time for the capacity we have in Nigeria to refine crude into petrochemicals and petroleum products,” he added.
The Dangote Refinery had raised petroleum prices three times in recent days, citing rising global crude oil prices driven by the Middle East conflict, before later reducing them, explaining that the cuts reflected a decline in global crude benchmarks.
On the broader state of the economy, Edun remained optimistic despite acknowledging the impact of global uncertainties.
“We are on our way out of the woods. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel as long as we stay the course,” he said.
Vanguard News
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