President Bola Tinubu’s naira-for-crude initiative has shielded Nigeria from the severe fuel scarcity afflicting major economies worldwide amid the ongoing Iran-Israel-US conflict in the Middle East, the Presidency said on Wednesday.
According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, the policy, approved in July 2024 and launched on October 1, 2024, has ensured uninterrupted petroleum product supply in Nigeria while countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa experience acute shortages and long fuel queues.
In an article titled ‘Middle-East Crisis: How Tinubu’s Policy of Naira-for-Crude Guarantees Supply Security in Nigeria,’ released by the State House on Wednesday, Ajayi said the six-week-old conflict, worsened by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has triggered global economic chaos.
The Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime corridor between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, accounts for over 20 per cent of global oil and gas flows.
“While the cost of PMS and other petroleum products has also gone up in Nigeria, as in other countries, the global energy crisis has not led to a domestic scarcity of petroleum products, unlike in major countries where people are standing in long queues for days at gas stations,” Ajayi stated.
He cited examples of crisis-hit nations implementing emergency measures. Ajayi said Vietnam is now encouraging remote work to reduce transportation costs, Bangladesh has imposed daily limits on fuel sales and is closing universities early, Pakistan is implementing a four-day government work week and temporary school closures, and Egypt has mandated shops and restaurants to close by 9 p.m. daily.
“In the Philippines, the government has declared a national energy emergency. In parts of the United States, Americans join long queues to buy fuel,” he added.
The naira-for-crude initiative, managed by a technical committee chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and including the Executive Chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, has developed a framework ensuring supply security and economic stability.
Ajayi said the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, has been central to the policy’s success, scaling up production at a critical time and prioritising Nigeria’s energy security over more attractive export options. “Petrol queues, even during festive seasons, have disappeared since the Refinery commenced PMS production in October 2024,” he noted.
Despite a 10 per cent increase in crude oil prices, Ajayi said the refinery recently cut petrol prices by N75 per litre, even while paying an additional premium of up to $18 per barrel for Nigerian crude oil cargoes, demonstrating the benefits of local refining. He argued that the ongoing crisis has also positioned Nigeria as a strategic exporter to Africa.
In March 2026 alone, the Dangote refinery exported close to 500,000 tons of refined products to various African countries, generating significant export earnings. “Many countries in Europe, Asia, and major African countries, such as South Africa and Kenya, now rely on supplies from Nigeria through the Dangote refinery,” Ajayi stated.
He emphasised that the refinery has eliminated the huge demurrage bill that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited used to incur in maintaining safety stock on several floating vessels.
Ajayi said, “The Dangote refinery is transforming Nigeria into a more resilient and energy-independent nation, providing all-year-round availability of petroleum products and enabling the country to withstand external shocks better.”
He described the refinery as more than an industrial asset, calling it “the foundation of Nigeria’s energy sovereignty and a catalyst for sustainable economic growth.”
The naira-for-crude policy allows Dangote to pay for crude oil supplied to the refinery by the NNPC in naira rather than dollars, reducing pressure on foreign exchange reserves while ensuring a stable domestic fuel supply.
