Sep 4, 2026

Hashim Brands Tinubu’s Market-Driven Oil Pricing Policy as Insanity and Idiocy

By Afolabi Olaiya Idowu in news

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Abuja, September 4, 2026— Accord Party presidential candidate Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim has launched a sharp attack on President Bola Tinubu’s handling of petroleum pricing, describing the decision to leave both domestic and international oil prices entirely to market forces as “insanity and idiocy.”

Appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Hashim argued that it is particularly reckless for the leader of an oil-producing country to adopt such an approach.

“It is insanity and idiocy for anybody, especially for the president of an oil-producing country, to say that both domestic and international oil prices you leave to market forces. What President Tinubu did was insanity,” he said.

A Consistent Critic of Subsidy Removal

Hashim has long opposed the manner in which the fuel subsidy was removed in 2023. He maintains that Nigeria never properly calculated the true cost of producing, refining, transporting and distributing petrol before declaring the difference with international prices a “subsidy.”

Instead of returning to an opaque subsidy regime, he advocates a transparent, cost-based pricing model.

Under his proposed framework, petrol would start at a sustainable price of about ₦605 per liter—a figure he says no Nigerian should exceed under an Accord administration—and could eventually fall to between ₦200 and ₦300 per litre if production costs are reduced and the naira is stabilized at a target range of ₦525–₦700 to the dollar.

Broader Economic Critique

During the same interview, Hashim expanded his criticism beyond fuel prices. He claimed Nigeria’s nominal GDP has shrunk dramatically under successive APC administrations, falling from over $574 billion under former President Goodluck Jonathan to around $230 billion today—lower than the figure recorded during the Obasanjo years.

He also questioned the current value of the naira and challenged the Central Bank governor and Finance Minister to a public debate on economic management.

The candidate, a businessman and energy sector player, has positioned affordable energy as central to national productivity. He argues that cheaper petrol is not a giveaway but an investment that would lower transport and production costs across the economy.

Context of the Debate

President Tinubu’s administration has defended market-oriented reforms, including the removal of the fuel subsidy and policies such as naira-for-crude transactions aimed at reducing foreign exchange pressure and supporting local refining.

Government officials maintain that these steps, though painful, are necessary to end fiscal distortions and attract investment.

Hashim’s remarks come as opposition figures continue to highlight the hardship caused by high living costs and as the 2027 election cycle intensifies.

Whether his cost-based alternative can gain wider traction will depend on the credibility of the underlying production and exchange-rate assumptions he presents to voters.

For now, the blunt language used on national television has once again placed the question of how Nigeria prices its own oil firmly at the centre of the political conversation.