Accord Party presidential candidate, Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has promised to support the Dangote Refinery and other qualifying domestic refineries with access to locally produced crude oil at a strategic domestic price if elected president in 2027.
Hashim said the proposed policy would give Nigerian refineries a cost advantage, enabling them to compete more effectively in African and international markets.
He made the pledge at the weekend in Ilorin, Kwara State, during a Diaspora Dialogue on “Fuel Subsidy and the Politics of 2027”, anchored by Prof. Farooq Kperogi, Prof. Moses Ochonu and Dr. Osmund Agbo.
According to him, Nigeria must begin to treat crude oil as a major tool for industrial development instead of relying mainly on exporting the commodity.
Hashim said his proposed “Energy First” policy would seek to reverse the situation where Nigeria exports crude oil and imports refined petroleum products.
“Nigeria has spent decades giving the world our crude and buying back the value created from it. Our Energy First policy will reverse that equation.
“Our crude is our strategic advantage. We will put that advantage behind Nigerian industry. Refining and petrochemical industries are a core part of our immediate industrialisation strategy as we aim to be the world’s most reliable energy source,” he said.
Local crude for Nigerian refineries
The Accord candidate said Dangote Refinery and other qualifying Nigerian refineries would be able to access domestic crude under a strategic local pricing arrangement.
He explained that the arrangement would allow Nigerian refineries to obtain crude at a price that would help them produce refined products competitively, rather than forcing them to operate solely according to international crude pricing.
“If the crude is Nigerian and the refinery is Nigerian, the Nigerian economy must capture the advantage.
“Our refineries will buy Nigerian crude at a strategic local price, not international crude economics, so they can produce competitively, expand aggressively and conquer international markets, starting first with the African region,” he said.
Hashim stressed that the proposed framework would not be designed specifically for the Dangote Refinery.
He said every Nigerian refinery that meets the required standards for efficiency, transparency and performance would be eligible.
“This is not a Dangote subsidy. It is a Nigerian industrial strategy.
“Dangote will benefit because it has invested at extraordinary scale. Other existing refineries will benefit. New refineries will benefit. Any Nigerian refinery that meets the required efficiency, transparency and performance standards will have access to the same framework.
“We are not creating one protected champion. We are going to create an army of Nigerian energy champions,” he said.
Plans additional one million barrels refining capacity
Hashim also said an Accord administration would seek to increase Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity by an additional one million barrels per day within three years.
He said the government would achieve this through direct investment and strategic partnerships with private investors.
According to him, the objective would be to make Nigeria a major African refining and petrochemical centre rather than simply a crude oil-exporting country.
“We want to be Africa’s refining and petrochemical hub, not just a huge crude exporter.
“We will use government investment strategically and deploy joint ventures where necessary to expand refining capacity, deepen petrochemical production and ensure that Nigerian crude creates value in Nigeria before it is exported,” he said.
The presidential candidate said Nigeria would also need to increase crude production to provide sufficient feedstock for the proposed expansion in refining capacity.
He said he had separately proposed recovering about 3,000 shut-in and non-producing oil wells and increasing crude production to four million barrels per day within 24 months of assuming office.
“It makes no economic sense for a country, with thousands of oil wells sitting idle, to behave as though crude is scarce.
“We will recover commercially viable shut-in wells, restore production infrastructure, improve evacuation and security, and bring Nigeria’s lost barrels back into the economy,” he said.
Hashim said the additional crude production should be used to support domestic industrialisation rather than merely increase exports.
“The real question is not whether Nigeria can produce four million barrels. The real question is; what will Nigeria do with four million barrels? Under our Energy First policy, we will use those barrels to power Nigerian industry,” he said.
Hashim maintains petrol can sell at ₦605
The Accord presidential candidate also restated his proposal for a starting petrol price of ₦605 per litre under his proposed Energy First policy.
Hashim said the price could eventually fall to between ₦200 and ₦300 per litre if production costs decline and exchange-rate conditions improve.
He explained that the ₦605 target would represent the beginning of a transition away from subsidising consumption towards expanding domestic productive capacity.
“₦605 is not our destination. It is a starting point in a transition from subsidising consumption to building productive capacity.
“We want to make energy cheaper because Nigeria produces more, refines more and captures more value, not because government endlessly pays the difference,” he said.
According to him, lower energy costs would depend on increasing crude production, expanding domestic refining, reducing waste and retaining more value within the Nigerian economy.
“The cheaper energy we are promising Nigerians will not be based on accounting magic.
“It will come from producing more, refining more, wasting less and capturing more value within Nigeria,” he said.
Plans wider petrochemical industry
Hashim said Nigeria’s crude oil should serve as feedstock for a wider industrial chain producing petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, lubricants, plastics, fertiliser and other petrochemical products.
“We must stop thinking of petroleum as petrol.
“The crude beneath our soil can become petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, lubricants, plastics, fertiliser feedstock, petrochemicals and thousands of industrial products.
“That is where the real economic transformation lies,” he said.
He added that his administration would focus on developing infrastructure needed to support the energy sector, including pipelines, ports, storage facilities, electricity, transportation and security.
He also promised to pursue predictable regulations to encourage investment in the sector.
“Government will build the ecosystem. Nigerian entrepreneurs will build the companies. Nigerian companies will conquer the markets.
“Our job is to make Nigerian energy companies less dependent on Nigeria’s limitations,” he said.
Dangote Refinery as model for private investment
Hashim said the emergence of the Dangote Refinery had demonstrated that Nigerian private investors could undertake large-scale industrial projects.
He said the government should therefore create an environment that would enable major Nigerian energy companies to expand and compete internationally.
“Dangote has shown the world what Nigerian capital can build. Now Nigeria needs a government with the ambition to match that investment.
“Our job is not to make Dangote dependent on government. Our job is to make Dangote less dependent on Nigeria’s limitations.
“We want to give Nigerian energy companies the crude advantage, infrastructure, policy certainty and strategic support required to compete anywhere in the world,” he said.
Hashim said the overall objective of his proposed Energy First policy was to ensure that a larger share of the value generated from Nigeria’s crude oil remained within the country.
“For decades, the world bought Nigerian crude and created wealth from it elsewhere.
“Energy First will ensure that Nigerian crude creates Nigerian industries, Nigerian companies, Nigerian jobs and Nigerian global champions.
“Local crude. Local refining. Global products. Global markets. Nigerian companies. Global energy power,” he said.
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