…demands accountability for N15.8trn savings
The Campaign for Democracy (CD) has strongly condemned the Federal Government’s newly announced 30-day petrol discount, labeling it a “fraudulent and anti-people” policy that threatens Nigeria’s democratic stability.
In a sharply worded press statement signed by CD President, Reverend Ifeanyi Odili, the prominent civil society group warned President Bola Tinubu that civilian maladministration and harsh economic policies can destroy democracy just as effectively as military coups.
The controversy stems from the Federal Government’s latest fuel pricing strategy. The administration announced a 30-day petrol discount at NNPC retail stations, introducing a N1,350 landing cost ceiling and a N3.3 trillion tax waiver.
The government also maintained that it would not return to a blanket subsidy, claiming instead that it saved and shared N15.8trillion to the Federation Account between June 2023 and December 2025.
However, the CD rejected these claims entirely, arguing that the 30-day discount is merely “subsidy through the backdoor.”
The group stated that by forcing the NNPC to absorb shortfalls when the landing cost exceeds N1,350, the government is engaging in price-fixing.
According to the CD, this directly violates the principles of deregulation and the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which mandates market-driven pricing.
Furthermore, the CD raised alarms over severe market distortions.
By restricting the discount strictly to NNPC stations, the group argues that the government is unfairly undercutting private market competitors—including major players like the Dangote Refinery and BUA Group.
The CD warned that this state-sponsored discrimination will kill private refining investments and destroy healthy market competition.
Dismissing the 30-day timeline as political tokenism, the CD questioned what would happen on the 31st day.
The group argued that a temporary palliative cannot resolve a three-year cost-of-living crisis.
They also demanded transparency regarding the claimed N15.8 trillion savings, pointing out that Nigerians have seen no improvement in schools, hospitals or public infrastructure, while inflation soars above 30 per cent.
The CD noted that moving financial burdens from NNPC books to Federal Inland Revenue Service and Customs tax waivers is deceptive bookkeeping.
The human rights group also heavily criticised the government’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative.
The CD called the conversion of 120,000 vehicles out of a national pool of 12 million—coupled with just 90 CNG stations nationwide—”grossly insufficient,” stressing that the conversion costs ranging from N230,000 to N580,000 remain out of reach for the average driver.
Additionally, the CD dismissed the government’s celebrated 4.2% GDP growth, describing it as “insensitive economics” that fails to reflect widespread food inflation and small business collapses.
CD urged President Tinubu to govern with compassion and halt the shrinking of the civic space, citing recent anti-democratic incidents such as the tearing of opposition banners in Zuru and the harassment of dissenting voices.
The group concluded that if the public can neither afford to live nor freely oppose the state, the foundation of Nigerian democracy remains at grave risk.
