MINISTER’S N4,000/$ THREAT OVER FUEL SUBSIDY RESTORATION: A WRONG APPROACH TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AN INSULT TO NIGERIANS AND A BETRAYAL OF CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES

*COALITION AGAINST CORRUPTION AND BAD GOVERNANCE (CACOBAG)*

*PRESS RELEASE*

Wednesday 22nd October , 2026.

*MINISTER’S N4,000/$ THREAT OVER FUEL SUBSIDY RESTORATION: A WRONG APPROACH TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AN INSULT TO NIGERIANS AND A BETRAYAL OF CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES*

The Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance (CACOBAG) has read with dismay the statement credited to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, in Bangkok, Thailand, to the effect that the Naira will crash to N4,000 per Dollar if fuel subsidy is restored.

We consider the statement not only as economically illiterate but as an embarrassing display of arrogance, lack of direction and contempt for the Nigerian people. It is a wrong approach to economic development.

*1. THE MINISTER OUGHT TO HAVE KEPT QUIET RATHER THAN EMBARRASS NIGERIA ABROAD*

Diplomacy demands wisdom. It is a shame and an embarrassment to us as a nation for a Finance Minister to go outside Nigeria to tell the world that our economy is so fragile that it cannot survive affordable fuel for its own people.

The minister ought to have kept quiet instead of embarrassing us outside Nigeria. Is he not aware, “You don’t wash your dirty linen in the public” ? If you have no solution, silence is golden. What he has done is to advertise our incompetence to international investors and to confirm that this government has no idea of how to manage an oil-producing economy.

*2. NO COUNTRY DEVELOPS BY PUNISHING ITS PEOPLE*

Advanced economies that this government pretends to copy heavily subsidize critical sectors for their citizens.

The United States subsidizes agriculture, energy and housing. The United Kingdom caps energy prices and subsidizes public transport. Germany, France and Canada subsidize fuel, electricity, healthcare and education. Norway, a major oil producer like Nigeria, runs a sovereign model where citizens enjoy cheaper energy. Even in Africa, Libya under good management sold fuel at less than $0.15 per litre, Angola, Algeria and Egypt still subsidize fuel for their people.

Which economic theory says that because a commodity is costly in the international market, it must be costly in the country where it is produced? None. Classical, Keynesian and Developmental Economics all agree that a responsible government moderates domestic prices of essential commodities derived from its natural endowments to stimulate productivity, reduce cost of living and grow the economy. Fuel is not just a commodity in Nigeria; it is the determinant of all prices, transport, food, housing, health and education.

As Chief Obafemi Awolowo of blessed memory said: *”The children of the poor you failed to train will never let your children have peace.”* You cannot impoverish the masses with high fuel price and expect economic peace and Naira stability.

The late Mallam Aminu Kano also warned us: *”The problem with Nigeria is that we have a class of people who have plenty, and a mass of people who have nothing. Until we bridge that gap, there will be no peace.”* Removing subsidy widens that gap.

Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, the conscience of the nation, said it clearly: *”A government that cannot provide for the welfare of its people has no right to ask for their loyalty.”* This government has failed that test.

*3. YOU CANNOT EAT FREE AND ASK THE MASSES TO STARVE*

It is morally repugnant for a President and Ministers who get fuel free of charge, travel free of charge in presidential jets, eat free food in State House, and enjoy free medical and surgical treatment abroad at the expense of the masses, their employers, to tell Nigerians that subsidy must go because Nigerians cannot manage cheap fuel.

The President is not a monarch. Every Nigerian is a potential President. The power he holds is borrowed power, held in trust for the people. A government cannot force unpopular and anti-people policies on the citizenry.

As *V.I. Lenin* posited: *”No amount of political freedom will satisfy the hungry masses.”* Economic freedom is the foundation of political freedom.

*Frantz Fanon*, the great African revolutionary, wrote: *”The well-being of the masses is the only valid test of a government.”* Not IMF rating, not World Bank commendation.

And *Karl Marx* reminded us: *”The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”* What we are witnessing is a class struggle where the ruling elite protects its perks while asking the masses to sacrifice.

*4. CORRUPTION IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR BAD GOVERNANCE – IT IS A CRIME TO BE PREVENTED*

It is a national embarrassment for a Minister to argue that fuel will be smuggled if it is cheap, and that corruption will return if fuel is subsidized.

We have laws and institutions to prevent crime, not to surrender to it.

a. *The Nigeria Police Act, 2020, Section 4(a)* provides: _”The Police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged.”_ It is the duty of the Police to prevent smuggling, not the duty of Nigerians to suffer high prices to stop smuggling.

b. *The Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, Section 4* empowers the Nigeria Customs Service to collect revenue, prevent and suppress smuggling, enforce border controls and secure Nigeria’s territorial integrity. Why do we have Customs, Immigration, Navy, and Security Agencies if cheap fuel must mean smuggling?

c. *Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), Section 15(5)* is explicit: _”The State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.”_

d. *Section 14(2)(b), CFRN, 1999*, the grundnorm and supreme law, declares: _”The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”_ Welfare includes affordable energy.

e. Internationally, *Article 21(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights* and *Article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)* to which Nigeria is a signatory, mandate governments to ensure that natural wealth is deployed for the welfare of the people.

A government that cannot stop smuggling and corruption has no business being in government. As anti-corruption crusader *Julius Nyerere* of Tanzania said: *”Corruption is not a natural phenomenon. It is created by those who are in power and who fail to punish it.”*

*5. THE SUBSIDY IS GONE ANNOUNCEMENT: THE ORIGIN OF THIS DEPRESSION*

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s hasty and arrogant declaration of “Subsidy is gone” on May 29, 2023, after a pyrrhic victory, without any cushion, without consultation, without a plan, plunged Nigeria into its worst economic depression in decades. Inflation at over 30%, Naira bastardized from less than N500/$ to over N1600/$, electricity worse than he met it, insecurity unabated, jobs non-existent.

It is only in Nigeria that a sitting government keeps blaming previous governments for its failure. The question is simple: Why did you aspire to lead when you knew things were spoilt by previous governments and you had no technical know-how to fix them? Leadership is about solutions, not excuses.

*6. CORRUPTION IS ON THE INCREASE*

This government is comfortable retaining and appointing persons with a deluge of petitions and allegations of corruption over their previous offices, yet it is uncomfortable making fuel affordable to Nigerians. That is hypocrisy.

What a government that tells us security has improved when Nigerians are kidnapped daily, that tells us it is working when electricity has collapsed, that tells us Naira is stabilizing when commodities are unaffordable, and that cannot provide jobs for our youth thereby making them vulnerable to drug abuse and misuse as political thugs?

*7. FUEL CAN BE SOLD AT N100 PER LITRE IF CORRUPTION IS REMOVED*

CACOBAG maintains that fuel can be sold as low as N100 per litre in Nigeria.

Crude oil refining produces not less than seven valuable products from which cost can be recovered:

i. Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)
ii. Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel – AGO)
iii. Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK)
iv. Aviation Turbine Kerosene (Jet A-1)
v. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG – Cooking Gas)
vi. Base Oil / Lubricants and Bitumen
vii. Petrochemical feedstock

The cost of refining can be recovered from these other products, and even free fuel can be given to Nigerians if the system is not corrupt. The crude is ours. God endowed us with it for our wellbeing, not for the hedonistic satisfaction of a few. The perk of office is their consideration for holding political office, not service.

Nigeria does not lack competent people. There are several Nigerians, even in hamlets and villages, who can revamp this country within one year with fuel at N100 per litre.

A serious, competent, efficient and incorruptible government can perform wonders within four years that will make the people clamour for continuity. A good government does not need to force itself on the people, rent crowds, or embark on aggressive propaganda.

Pa Lateef Jakande, Baba Kekere, the man who had the great Awo and philosophy of Awoism in him, did not embark on any serious campaign in 1983 for second term. His achievements campaigned for him. He got the votes of nearly all Lagosians who voted. That is progressivism. Progressivism is not propaganda, it is not mouth service, it is performance, empathy and service delivery.

*OUR CALL*

Nigeria can work. The examples of Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, Rwanda under focused leadership, and Botswana with prudent resource management, show that a developing country can prioritize its people and succeed. Even in West Africa, Ghana and Senegal subsidize critical sectors to protect their citizens.

We call on Nigerians: 2027 is around the corner. This is the time to make a right decision. Elect genuine, competent and pro-people leaders without considering religion, ethnicity or any primordial sentiment. Do not sell your future. The President may be an executive president, he cannot force what Nigerians don’t want on us as a people.

Would it not have been better for President Tinubu and his economic team to resign and withdraw from the 2027 general elections since they have no idea of what to do to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians?

We at CACOBAG can suggest names of competent, patriotic Nigerians who will revamp this country within one year with cost of fuel at N100 per litre.

Nigeria belongs to all of us.

Signed
Toyin Raheem
Chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance (CACOBAG)
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