My Govt’ll Support Dangote refinery, Others – Gbenga Hashim

…Says local refineries’ll buy crude at local price

…Insists petrol can sell at N605/litre

Accord Party Presidential candidate, Dr Gbenga Hashim has promised to support Nigerian refineries by introducing strategic domestic price for crude oil with the view of reducing petroleum price.

Hashim gave this commitment at the weekend in Ilorin during the Diaspora Dialogue, when he spoke on Fuel Subsidy and the Politics of 2027; anchored by Prof. Farooq Kperogi, Prof. Moses Ochonu and Dr. Osmund Agbo.

This comes against the backdrop of rising petrol prices and growing pressure on global energy markets.

He said Nigeria’s greatest economic mistake has been to treat crude oil primarily as an export commodity instead of using it as the foundation of National Industrial Power.

“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 most reliable energy source.”

Hashim also added that Dangote Refinery and other qualifying Nigerian refineries would be able to access Nigerian crude under a strategic domestic pricing framework rather than being treated simply as foreign buyers competing for an internationally-traded commodity.

“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 explained.

Hashim stressed that the policy would not be designed to favour any single company. “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.

Hashim said an Accord Party government would also use direct government investment and strategic joint ventures to expand Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity by an additional one million barrels per day within three years.

He said the objective is not simply to produce more petrol, but to establish Nigeria as Africa’s leading refining and petrochemical hub.

According to Hashim, Nigeria must move beyond the ambition of becoming merely self sufficient in refined petroleum products to becoming a country whose energy companies compete and win globally.

“We don’t want Dangote merely to dominate the Nigerian refining market. We want Dangote to compete with the world’s biggest energy companies. It started doing this by being the largest supplier of aviation fuel to Europe in the last few months.

“We want Nigerian refineries supplying Africa. We want Nigerian petrochemicals companies competing globally. We want Nigerian energy traders operating internationally. We want Nigerian companies to shape the global energy market.”

Hashim said the local crude strategy must be matched by a dramatic increase in Nigeria’s crude production.

He has proposed recovering approximately 3,000 shut-in and non-producing wells and raising National crude production towards 4 million barrels per day within 24 months of an Accord Party administration.

Hashim also doubled down on his proposed ₦605 per litre petrol price within the broader Energy First philosophy, by saying  “₦605 is not our destination. It is a starting point in a transition from subsidising consumption to building productive capacity.