Fuel Price: SDP’s Adebayo Mentions Amount Nigerians Will Buy Per Litre If Tinubu Wins Second Term
- SDP presidential candidate Prince Adewole Adebayo issued a stark warning about where Nigeria's fuel prices could go under a second Tinubu administration
- Adebayo linked the projected price surge to the CBN's naira float policy and the removal of government cushions on petroleum imports
- The SDP candidate outlined what his own administration would do differently to protect Nigerians from what he called a compounded inflation spiral
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Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 8 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues
Prince Adewole Adebayo, the Social Democratic Party's (SDP) presidential candidate, has warned that petrol prices in Nigeria could climb to ₦5,000 per litre if President Bola Tinubu wins a second term in 2027.
Adebayo argued that two core policies driving the current administration - full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector and the free float of the naira - have placed Nigeria on a path towards runaway inflation.
Source: Twitter
As reported by Daily Trust, Adebayo gave the warning through a press release issued by Mark Adebayo, the Chief Communications Adviser to the SDP presidential campaign.
The currency argument
Adebayo's projection rests heavily on the direction of the naira's exchange rate. Because Nigeria imports petrol and prices it in US dollars, any further weakening of the local currency directly raises the cost at the pump.
"If the exchange rate hits ₦3,500 to $1 in the coming years, the landing cost of fuel alone will exceed ₦4,000. You cannot have economy illiterates running your country and expect the people not to suffer," he said.
According to New Telegraph, he added that the complete removal of government subsidies eliminates any buffer against spikes in global crude oil prices.
"If global crude prices spike due to geopolitical tensions, Nigerian consumers will bear 100% of the burden at the pump, which automatically triggers a compounded inflation spiral," Adebayo said.
He also pointed to high Central Bank interest rates as a hidden cost driver, arguing that oil marketers borrowing at steep rates to finance imports pass those financing charges directly on to consumers, alongside costs tied to poor port and distribution infrastructure.
What Adebayo proposes instead
Adebayo described the current economic hardship as the predictable result of applying what he called "foreign IMF-style models" rather than policies built around Nigerian citizens.
"We cannot run an economy purely on taxes, subsidy removal, and currency devaluation without producing anything internally," he said. "A ₦5,000 fuel price is not a myth; it is basic mathematics based on the direction the Tinubu administration is walking."
The SDP candidate said that if elected, he would move quickly to restore local refining capacity through transparent public-private partnerships and reintroduce targeted support measures to shield ordinary Nigerians from economic shocks.
Adebayo was ratified as the SDP's presidential candidate on May 29, 2026, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Source: Facebook
Atiku reacts as petrol hits ₦1,470 per litre
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that Atiku Abubakar accused the Tinubu administration of failing to account for Federation Account deductions and oil revenues since 2023.
The former vice president pointed to June 2025 FAAC figures showing ₦4.232 trillion in gross revenue against ₦1.818 trillion distributed.
Atiku compared current fuel prices to the Yar'Adua era, when petrol sold at ₦65 per litre even as crude oil traded near $147 per barrel.
Source: Legit.ng
