Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has rejected calls for Nigerians to pay more for petrol as a way of discouraging cross-border fuel smuggling, arguing that consumers should not bear the cost of weak border enforcement.
Makinde made the position in his latest Business of Governance newsletter, published in September 2026, as the debate over Nigeria’s petrol pricing system continues following the removal of the fuel subsidy.
“We should also reject the argument that Nigerians must pay more for petroleum products simply to eliminate the price difference that makes smuggling into neighbouring countries profitable,” Makinde said. He added that Nigerians should not be made to bear the cost of the government’s inability to secure its borders.
The governor argued that Nigeria’s petroleum debate should move beyond the narrow question of whether the country should restore subsidies or allow consumers to pay market prices.
Instead, he called for a transparent pricing framework showing how petrol prices are calculated. According to Makinde, Nigerians should be able to see the crude-oil benchmark, refining costs and margins, exchange-rate assumptions, logistics and distribution expenses, taxes, levies and other factors that determine the final pump price.
Fuel smuggling has historically been encouraged by differences between Nigerian petrol prices and those in neighbouring countries. When petrol is significantly cheaper in Nigeria, traders can make money by moving supplies illegally across porous borders.
Makinde’s argument, however, is that eliminating that arbitrage opportunity should not automatically mean increasing the domestic price paid by millions of Nigerian motorists and households.
The position puts greater emphasis on enforcement and policy transparency rather than using higher domestic prices as the primary anti-smuggling tool.
The intervention comes as Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market undergoes a major structural shift. The removal of petrol subsidies has transferred much of the pricing burden to consumers, while the emergence of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has changed the country’s balance between imported and locally refined fuel.
The Federal Government also abandoned its planned 15% import duty on petrol and diesel in November 2025 after the downstream regulator said implementation was “no longer in view.” The measure should therefore not be presented as a current charge on petrol prices.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has increasingly prioritised domestic refining. Reuters reported in March 2026 that regulators had stopped issuing petrol import licences for a second consecutive month, citing provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act that allow imports when domestic production is insufficient.
Makinde said he would present an alternative approach to Nigeria’s petroleum pricing system in the coming weeks.
The proposal could add another dimension to an already politically sensitive debate over petrol prices, domestic refining, border security and the economic burden carried by Nigerian consumers.
