RismadarVoice Reporters
September 5, 2026
Accord Party presidential candidate Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim hasv challenged the Federal Government’s justification for high pump prices, asserting that premium motor spirit (PMS) could comfortably sell at ₦605 per litre if domestic crude oil pricing is restructured.
Speaking to the media, the politician described the persistent fuel subsidy discourse as mere “accounting magic” designed to inflate domestic prices artificially.
Olawepo-Hashim contended that the government inflates fuel costs by benchmarking domestic crude supply against international market rates rather than actual production costs.
“The truth of it is that the price is currently inflated. By who? By the government,” he stated during the broadcast.
He argued that crude allocated for local consumption should not carry the international market’s “opportunity cost” price. Citing oil-producing nations like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Olawepo-Hashim noted that foreign peers do not subject their domestic energy markets to international pricing formulas in the same manner.
To substantiate his proposal, Olawepo-Hashim presented a cost-benefit calculation derived from industry figures:
Upstream Production: $30 per barrel production cost + $15 operator margin ($45 subtotal).
Refining & Midstream: $5 per barrel for refining + $7 for transportation and insurance.
Total Benchmark Cost: $57 per barrel.
Dividing the $57 sum across the 159 litres in a standard barrel yields approximately 34 cents per litre. Converted at an illustrative benchmark of ₦1,400 to the dollar, the base production cost translates to roughly ₦501 per litre.
Olawepo-Hashim explained that adding an approximate ₦104 “Energy Stabilisation Tax” to fund alternative energy infrastructure results in his proposed ₦605 per litre pump price.
The Accord candidate questioned the transparency of Nigeria’s oil sector, demanding a full forensic review of domestic production costs to eliminate inefficiencies.
He reiterated that previous relief mechanisms were mischaracterised, emphasising that selling locally produced crude above actual extraction costs does not constitute a state subsidy loss.
