The City Boy Movement has opposed calls for the Federal Government to restore petrol subsidies, arguing that the latest pressure on pump prices is being intensified by global geopolitical tensions.
The group said the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran had affected international crude oil markets, creating additional pressure on petroleum prices in Nigeria.
Its National Director of Students Engagement and Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Students Engagement, Comrade Sunday Asefon, made the position known in a statement.
Asefon urged Nigerians to reject what he described as efforts by “subsidy merchants” to use the current economic hardship to force the government to reverse the downstream petroleum reforms introduced in 2023.
He argued that the rise in petrol prices from levels recorded before May 2023 to roughly N1,300 and N1,400 per litre could not be blamed entirely on subsidy removal.
According to him, international market conditions had become an increasingly important factor, particularly amid tensions in the Middle East.
Asefon identified the Strait of Hormuz as a major concern because of its importance to global oil transportation. He warned that a significant disruption to the route could push crude prices higher and further increase fuel costs internationally.
He said the situation reinforced the need for Nigeria to expand domestic refining and reduce its reliance on imported petroleum products.
The presidential aide also credited the Dangote Refinery with providing some protection against international oil-market shocks. He claimed that without the refinery, petrol prices could have reached between N5,000 and N6,000 per litre under the current circumstances, citing comments attributed to the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria.
Asefon said the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery was producing about 32 million litres of petroleum products daily and had helped reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuel.
He further argued that deregulation had left petrol relatively cheaper in Nigeria than in some neighbouring West African countries.
The City Boy Movement maintained that restoring subsidy would discourage investment in domestic refining and return Nigeria to the heavy import dependence associated with the previous system.
Asefon described the former subsidy arrangement as financially unsustainable, citing an estimate by former Finance Minister Wale Edun that subsidy and related foreign exchange costs accounted for about five per cent of Nigeria’s GDP, or approximately $20 billion annually.
He said funds freed by the reforms were being redirected into programmes covering infrastructure, social investment and support for state governments.
Among the measures he highlighted was the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas initiative. Asefon claimed that private investment in the CNG sector had reached about $980 million within 18 months and that vehicle conversions had increased substantially.
He also pointed to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, minimum wage increases, higher NYSC allowances, consumer credit and livelihood support as examples of programmes linked to the administration’s broader reforms.
Asefon acknowledged that Nigerians were experiencing significant economic hardship, particularly from high petrol and food prices.
However, he argued that abandoning the reforms would expose the country to renewed import dependence and potentially greater vulnerability to international supply disruptions.
He described subsidy removal as a difficult but necessary economic adjustment, saying Nigeria was now in a recovery period despite the additional pressure created by global developments.
Asefon therefore urged Nigerians to remain patient with the reforms, arguing that the international crisis would eventually ease while investments in domestic refining and alternative energy continued to develop.
