'N300 Petrol Under My Watch': Donald Duke Tells Nigerians, Discusses Tinubu’s Policies
- PRP presidential candidate Donald Duke told Channels Television he had a plan to cut petrol prices significantly for Nigerians
- Duke argued that petroleum products for local consumption should be priced based on production costs, not international market rates
- The former Cross River governor outlined a crude oil allocation strategy he said would make his proposed pricing model possible
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Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over a decade's experience covering energy, MSMEs, technology, banking and the economy.
FCT, Abuja - Donald Duke, the former Cross River State governor and the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate for the 2027 elections, has said he would bring petrol prices down to around N300 per litre if he wins the presidency.
Duke made the promise during an appearance on Channels Television's Morning Brief on Wednesday, October 7, where he criticised President Bola Tinubu's handling of the economy and laid out how he would manage the petroleum sector differently.
Source: UGC
Duke's case against current petrol pricing
The former Cross River State governor argued that selling petroleum products to Nigerians at international market prices was unfair, particularly for low-income earners. He described the current subsidy framework as a deception and said local consumption should be priced according to what it costs to produce the fuel, not what it trades for on the global market.
"The subsidy regime thing, this whole thing is a scam. I'm going to price petroleum products for local consumption at production costs, not at international market costs," Duke said.
He broke down the numbers to support his position.
"I'm giving you a production cost of $45, right? The international price, that's $45, including processing, refining, otherwise, it's about $30, and you're selling it back to your own people at 100 and something dollars," he added.
Duke said the current cost of fuel was crushing ordinary Nigerians.
"You don't want them to breathe, and your people are notably the poorest in the world. They can't afford it. The basic minimum wage is 70,000 naira. Your salary will go in just filling a tank of fuel," he said.
How Duke plans to make N300 petrol work
When pressed on what price he would realistically target, Duke said N300 per litre was his goal.
"I will try and bring it to about 300 naira. I've told you that it sounds so outlandish, but I've given you the arithmetic," he said.
His plan centres on separating Nigeria's crude oil output into two streams: one reserved for domestic use and another sold on the international market. He proposed allocating 600,000 barrels per day for local consumption and exporting the remaining volume.
"Allocate 600,000 barrels if that's what you consume daily. Allocate that to yourself. The other one million you can sell it," Duke said.
Source: Getty Images
Nigeria produced an average of 1.68 million barrels of crude oil per day, according to available industry data. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has said the country consumes roughly 60.2 million litres of petrol daily.
Duke said the pricing model would ease the financial pressure fuel costs place on Nigerians and form a central part of his economic agenda ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Watch Donald Duke's interview on petrol prices below via the X post:
Petrol imports drop to 14.6m litres
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Nigeria recorded a significant drop in daily petrol imports in August 2026 as local refineries supplied more fuel to the domestic market.
Data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) showed that daily petrol imports fell by 26% during the month.
Imported petrol supply declined from 19.7 million litres per day in July to 14.6 million litres per day in August.
Source: Legit.ng
