Nigeria proposed capping petrol prices at about 1,350 naira per litre as a response to sharp fuel-cost increases, Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele said on October 8. Reuters reported the announcement in an article published by CNBC Africa on October 9.
Under the proposal, refiners and importers would absorb temporary cost increases and recover losses when prices eased. The government also planned a 30-day discount programme selling petrol at cost, with public transport receiving priority. Officials were considering forward crude sales to domestic refiners to stabilise feedstock costs and reduce exposure to international price swings.
Oyedele said an energy-company windfall tax could be imposed where firms were found to be profiteering, with proceeds directed towards transport subsidies and fuel vouchers for lower-income urban workers. Reuters linked the proposals to rising global oil prices amid Middle East tensions and renewed living-cost pressure on President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The measures were reported as proposals and plans, not as evidence that a nationwide price cap or a new windfall levy had already entered into force.