Nigerians don’t care if petrol subsidy is ended or not, poll shows

Nigerians across Pulse Nigeria social media platforms are indifferent about the federal government’s decision to end the petrol subsidy regime.

In April, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari, disclosed that Nigeria will no longer be paying subsidy on petrol in the face of a crash in the price of the product, worsened by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“There is no subsidy and it is zero forever, going forward there will be no resort to either subsidy or under recovery of any nature.

“NNPC will play in the marketplace, it will just be another marketer in the space. But we will be there for the country to sustain security of supply at market price,” Kyari said.

Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari. [Twitter/@NNPCgroup] Pulse Nigeria

Bloomberg reports that the move will save the President Muhammadu Buhari administration at least $2 billion a year, at a time when Africa’s biggest crude producer needs funds to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and prevent its economy from hemorrhaging.

Ending the subsidy regime is also a politically dangerous move -- a rebound in oil prices could rouse the opposition and test the administration’s resilience.

Previous attempts, noticeably in 2012, to wean Nigerians off cheap gasoline led to major anti-government protests.

Facebook respondents to a petrol subsidy online poll Facebook respondents to a petrol subsidy online poll Pulse Nigeria

When Pulse asked its Facebook audience what they thought about the government's new policy, 80 percent said they really don’t care. 20 percent considered the decision a good one.

On Instagram, 55 percent of respondents said ending the petrol subsidy regime is a bad move, while 45 percent hailed the decision.

Instagram petrol subsidy poll Instagram petrol subsidy poll Pulse Nigeria

On Twitter, 45.2 percent said ending a sometimes corrupt subsidy regime would be good for everyone, 21.9 percent kicked against the decision, while 32.8 percent were indifferent.

Ending the subsidy regime means a liter of petrol at the pump would now depend on market forces.

For the moment, Nigerians are paying between N123 ($0.32) and N125 for a liter of gasoline, the lowest price in a decade.