Brent price hits $109 as Tinubu’s govt slows palliatives for the poor

BRENT Crude oil price jumped 5.55 percent to $109.2 per barrel at 4.55pm Nigerian time on Wednesday as the petrol price reached N1,300-N1,500 per litre across Nigeria, worsening the nation’s energy poverty and hitting hard on those at the lower rung of the ladder.

The WTI Crude also rose 2.83 percent to $99.04 per barrel, while Murban Crude sold at $112.8, marking a 1.82 percent increase over a 1-day period.

Consequently, the petrol price stood at N1,250 per litre across fuel stations in Lagos and goes as high as N1,450 -N1,500 in the South-East and the South-South regions of Nigeria. The price hovered from N1,300 to N1,400 in the nation’s capital Abuja, forcing commercial vehicle drivers into raising fares.

While Nigerian citizens suffer from energy-induced pains, President Bola Tinubu isn’t moved. Finance Minister Wale Edun said last Wednesday that the Nigerian government would not control petrol prices. Instead, he said, the government would introduce measures to cushion the economic impact of the war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.

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Edun further said that President Bola Tinubu had already announced plans to provide an additional 100,000 Compressed Natural Gas conversion kits to help motorists switch from petrol to CNG, which cost about 25 percent to 30 percent of the price of petrol.

“When there is market failure is where the regulator steps in. But in terms of balancing pricing, what we are looking to do is to manage the disruption and we don’t know how permanent or temporary it could be,” Edun said.

“But in the meantime, rather than reverting back and taking backward steps, we’ll look at every other measure that we have that can help the cost of living of Nigerians.”

Simplification of complex problem

However, Edun, like most people in Tinubu’s government, ended up simplying a complex problem by thinking that simply releasing CNG conversion kits would help motorists switch from petrol to CNG.

Edun failed to simply tell Nigerians the truth about the government’s failing CNG programme. Economy Post found that there are few CNG refuelling stations and conversion centres in Nigeria. Also, the conversion is expensive and runs into hundreds of thousands of naira.

Also, several mechanics lack the skills and specialised tools required for CNG conversion. More so, the gas price is no more cheap, particularly with the Middle East crisis.

While Mr Edun and the Nigerian government simplify a complex phenomenon, several families can’t afford to buy gas or petrol. Transport costs have jumped in several Nigerian cities, while households increasingly resort to the use of firewood and crude sources of energy.

Only 15 million households have received the conditional cash transfer, according to Edun, which is just a drop in the ocean. The World Bank said in its ‘Nigeria Development Update’ released in October 2025 that though growth had picked up and revenues and reserves rising, poverty was skyrocketing in Africa’s most populous nation.

“In 2025 we estimate that 139 million Nigerians live in poverty. So the challenge is clear, how to translate the gains from the stabilisation reforms into better living standards for all,” said World Bank’s Country Director, Mr Mathew Verghis.

This means that Tinubu’s government has only provided cash transfer support for just 10.8 percent of Nigeria’s poor. Even at that, analysts say the cash transfer is just throwing money at a problem, noting that it neither reduces poverty nor guarantees enduring satisfaction.

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“My own take is that Tinubu’s government rushed to liberalise the petrol market without planning for its consequences,” said international economist, Dr Lilian Duke-Whyte. “The Middle East crisis has now further raised the petrol price, pushing more people into poverty. Despite this, we are yet to see commensurate programmes targeted at reducing poverty. It has been price hikes from cost of transfers to price of fuel, to tax, to transport, to cost of rent, to cost of electricity.”

Harvard-trained economist, Mr Nonso Mbah, wondered why the Bola Tinubu’s government seems to be elitist, without caring for the plights of Nigeria’s poor.

“What stops the government from providing affordable buses for workers? We have 39 million micro, small and medium enterprises in Nigeria, what stops the government from provising funding for 20 million to 30 million of these businesses. I know we are cash-strapped, but what is Nigeria doing with its oil windfall or revenue increases from tax? Okay, why not do food banking? Why not provide succour to the poor to ameliorate the poverty in the land.”