‘Why Price Nigerian Crude Like Imported Oil?’ — Makinde
Photo Credit: Facebook |Seyi Makinde
The presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Seyi Makinde, has questioned the pricing of crude oil supplied to Nigerian refineries, asking why locally produced crude should be priced as though it were imported.
Makinde, who is also the Governor of Oyo State, raised the question on Monday while speaking at the commissioning of the Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Office in Abuja.
The APM candidate called for greater transparency across the petroleum value chain, covering crude oil production and domestic allocation, refining, transportation, distribution, taxes and retail margins.
According to him, Nigerians should be able to derive direct and measurable benefits from the country’s crude oil resources, particularly when the product is supplied to domestic refineries.
“If a community grows food, the people of that community should not have to buy that food as though it travelled halfway around the world before reaching them. So, why should crude oil supplied to Nigerian refineries be priced as though Nigeria does not produce crude oil?” Makinde asked.
He argued that the benefit of Nigeria’s crude should be incorporated into the petroleum system from the beginning through the price at which crude is supplied for domestic refining.
Makinde opposed what he described as opaque interventions at the petrol pump after additional costs and inefficiencies had already accumulated.
“That benefit should be built into the system from the beginning, through the price at which crude oil is supplied for domestic refining — not through an opaque intervention at the petrol pump after all the costs, inefficiencies and distortions have been added,” he said.
The governor said his “Reset Nigeria” agenda was focused on dismantling opaque systems and rebuilding public confidence in government.
“Government must show its workings. Nigerians must be able to see how decisions are made and how national resources are managed,” he said.
Makinde also urged Nigerians to make the Reset Nigeria agenda a national conversation, rather than one restricted to politicians.
He said the initiative should reflect the experiences of ordinary Nigerians, including traders struggling with rising transport costs, farmers unable to move their produce affordably, business owners facing higher operating costs and young people struggling to see a clear path to a better future.
“Reset Nigeria cannot be a conversation among politicians alone. It must become a conversation in our homes, markets, schools, offices, farms, factories,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Leader of the APM and Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, endorsed Makinde’s economic vision and leadership capacity.
Mohammed described Makinde as “one of the best human capitals this country has produced,” while praising his performance as Oyo State governor.
He described Makinde as “a mobilizer, a manager of resources, an engineer par excellence,” saying he had achieved significant results despite limited resources.
The APM National Chairman, Dr Yusuf Dantalle, said the Reset Nigeria project was aimed at rescuing the country from what he described as its current drift.
He said the party was building a platform where competence, rather than ethnicity or religion, would determine leadership.
Dantalle described the campaign headquarters as the “engine room” of the party’s victory in the 2027 elections and said the APM had fielded credible candidates across the country.
He also described the Makinde/Daura ticket as offering Nigerians hope for improved governance, national security, economic prosperity and socio-religious harmony.
Dantalle assured Nigerians that Makinde would be “President to all Nigerians” if elected, while highlighting the security experience of the party’s vice-presidential candidate, Alhaji Lawal Daura.
He pledged that the APM would run an issue-based campaign focused on practical solutions, competence and the future of the country rather than bitterness, division and hatred.
In his goodwill message, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, said Makinde was qualified to become President of Nigeria.
Obi said his presence at the event demonstrated that politicians belonging to different parties did not have to be enemies, adding that opposition parties could work together to build a better Nigeria.
Similarly, the Secretary of the PDP Board of Trustees and former Governor of Niger State, Dr Aliyu Babangida, called for collaboration among opposition parties to rescue the country.
Babangida said opposition parties were working towards supporting a single candidate, adding that they would consider a candidate from Southern Nigeria since the North had already had eight years in power.
The event was attended by the APM vice-presidential candidate, Alhaji Lawal Daura; former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; legislators; members of the APM Board of Trustees and National Working Committee; and other party leaders and supporters.
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