By Eneole Otorkpa, Abuja
A former Cross River State governor and presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party ( PRP), Donald Duke, has rejected the federal government’s characterisation of petrol and other energy interventions as subsidies.
He argued that Nigeria should sell its resources to the citizens at the cost of production.
Duke’s position provides a fresh counterpoise to the competing proposals of President Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi over the future of petrol subsidy.
Tinubu abolished the subsidy in May 2023 and has defended the decision as necessary to free public funds for development. Atiku has promised to restore a targeted subsidy to reduce living costs, while Obi supports its removal but wants the savings transparently invested in productive and social sectors.
Duke spoke yesterday during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja.
He said Nigeria’s crude oil and gas were national resources and should be used to drive economic productivity rather than being priced solely according to international market rates.
“I don’t believe there’s a subsidy,” Duke declared.
According to him, the government should calculate the cost of producing and refining crude oil, add reasonable margins and make petrol available to Nigerians at an affordable price.
He argued that the country could sell other by-products from crude oil at commercial rates to offset the cost of petrol.
“Give it to us at the cost of production, not at the market price,” he said.
Duke said petrol was critical to the Nigerian economy and warned that making energy unaffordable would further weaken productivity.
He also criticised the continued sale of Nigerian gas for local consumption at international prices.
“Don’t sell your gas for local consumption at international price. It’s your own,” he stated.
The former governor said Nigeria had wasted enormous quantities of natural gas through years of flaring, despite the country’s energy needs.
He urged the government to invest in gas processing and establish gas distribution points across the country.
Duke also challenged the argument that cheaper Nigerian petrol would be smuggled across neighbouring borders.
According to him, the solution is stronger border control rather than imposing higher prices on Nigerians.
“You can’t punish your people because you can’t police your borders,” he said.
He proposed the use of unique colouring for Nigerian petrol to make it easier for authorities to identify fuel smuggled across the borders.
Duke maintained that the primary responsibility of government was to create an environment where citizens could be productive.
“The essence of governance is to ensure that the people are productive,” he said.
He also linked Nigeria’s worsening insecurity to poverty and low economic productivity.
Duke argued that the country’s economy had failed to grow sufficiently despite its rising population.
He compared Nigeria’s current budgetary expenditure with that of the administration of former President Shehu Shagari between 1979 and 1983.
According to him, Nigeria’s economy had effectively shrunk when population growth and inflation were taken into account.
He said the economic pressure had contributed to criminality, including kidnapping and banditry.
Duke also called for a major restructuring of Nigeria’s security architecture, advocating decentralised policing and stronger intelligence gathering.
“The idea of state police, even local government police, is right,” he said.
However, he stressed that state and local policing must operate under clear guidelines and be accompanied by a stronger judiciary.
Duke said intelligence gathering should constitute a major responsibility of decentralised security structures.
He criticised the country’s inability to sufficiently infiltrate terrorist organisations despite years of fighting insurgency.
He said Nigeria needed to adopt a different approach to tackling insecurity rather than relying predominantly on military enforcement.
Duke further called for a national development vision focused on productivity, security and economic opportunity.
He criticised the prioritisation of major infrastructure projects over pressing social challenges, including poverty and the number of out-of-school children.
He said government must focus on projects capable of producing measurable economic benefits for citizens.
On ethnicity and religion, Duke argued that Nigerians resort to identity politics largely because of economic inadequacy.
“I don’t believe that we’re tribalistic or we’re ethnic. We just use things because it’s advantageous to us,” he said.
According to him, Nigerians would care less about the ethnic or religious identity of political leaders if citizens could access basic services and opportunities based on merit.
He said the priority should be to build a productive and secure society where citizens could pursue their livelihoods without relying on ethnic or religious connections.
Duke also spoke on the fragmented opposition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said the emergence of different political alignments would require opposition figures to engage in discussions on how to build a credible alternative.
“I want to be in the field of discussion. I want to change the trajectory of our discussion,” he said.
Duke maintained that his immediate objective was to inject issues of productivity, economic development and hope into the political conversation ahead of 2027.
Follow the story
