Fuel Price Showdown: Atiku Blasts Minister Lokpobiri Over US Comparison, Demands Income-Based Affordability

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has strongly criticized the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, over his comparison of fuel prices and subsidies between Nigeria and the United States. This critique comes amidst ongoing controversy regarding the appropriate price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and the removal of fuel subsidies in Nigeria. Atiku, through his media aide, Paul Ibe, described the minister’s comparison as a "textbook example of how statistics could obscure economic reality when stripped of income and purchasing power."

Lokpobiri had asserted on Channels TV that petrol prices in Nigeria were lower than those in the United States, despite the US being a major crude oil producer and having a high level of refineries. However, Atiku argued that such a comparison fails to address the crucial question for ordinary Nigerians: "how much petrol can each worker afford from their earnings?"

Highlighting the disparity, Atiku provided a vivid example: "Telling a Nigerian earning N70,000 a month that petrol is ‘cheaper’ because an American pays a higher dollar price per litre ignores the question that actually matters: how much petrol can each worker afford from their earnings?" He further elaborated, "At about N1,400 per litre, Nigeria’s N70,000 minimum wage buys only 50 litres of petrol. By contrast, four weeks of earnings at the US federal minimum wage can buy roughly 981 litres at prevailing American pump prices." This stark comparison, according to Atiku, is the true reflection Nigerians should consider, emphasizing that while Americans may pay a higher nominal price, they also earn substantially more.

Atiku underscored that Nigerian wages are already severely impacted by high food prices, transport costs, rent, electricity, healthcare expenses, and the drastic collapse in the purchasing power of the naira. He pointed out that Nigeria's heavy reliance on road transportation and generators means that expensive petrol does not merely affect filling station costs, but directly inflates the prices of food, transportation, production, and virtually every other household expense. Consequently, the former Vice President maintained that the critical questions are "how many litres can the average Nigerian afford from his income?" and "How much is left after food, rent and transportation?" He concluded that for many, "Absolutely nothing. Indeed, it leaves a deficit!"

He reiterated that a government cannot simply declare petrol affordable by converting its pump price to dollars and referencing another country where the nominal price is higher. Atiku stressed that "Affordability is measured against income, purchasing power, and the cost of living. Any comparison that leaves those out is economically incomplete." He called for accountability, urging government officials to publish figures that genuinely reflect the lived economy, such as petrol as a share of wages, real household income, food inflation, transport costs, unemployment, poverty levels, and purchasing power. This, he argued, would be more beneficial than "celebrating favourable international price comparisons."

Atiku concluded by stating that Nigerians deserve economic arguments "grounded in what families could actually afford, rather than comparisons that looked reassuring only when wages and living costs were left out." He challenged the government to defend its economic record based on "the full cost-of-living numbers," which he described as the metrics that truly matter to ordinary Nigerians, rather than what he termed “‘Animal Farm’ numbers being bandied about by Tinubu and his officials.”