Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Digital and New Media, Mr. Otega Ogra has questioned former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to introduce a production subsidy for crude oil supplied to local refineries.
According to a report published by The Sun on Saturday, September 12, 2026, Ogra argued that a similar policy had previously been implemented during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo but failed to deliver the expected benefits.
Ogra made the comments while responding to Atiku’s suggestion that the government should support domestic refiners through subsidised crude supplies. He maintained that Nigeria’s past experience showed that giving refineries preferential access to crude did not automatically improve their performance or reduce the cost of petrol.
The presidential aide pointed to figures from the early 2000s, saying that by 2002, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had raised the quantity of crude allocated to domestic refineries to about 445,000 barrels per day.
He explained that the crude was supplied under preferential arrangements, but the policy came with a considerable financial burden for the government. Ogra referenced estimates attributed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) , which placed the revenue forgone at 3.2 percent of Nigeria’s GDP in 2002 and 2.9 percent in 2003.
He further argued that the increased crude allocation did not lead to significant improvements in refinery operations.
According to Ogra, the utilisation rate of the Warri refinery stood at 14.27 percent in 2003 before dropping to 9.1 percent in 2004. He added that the Kaduna refinery operated at 15.96 percent and 26 percent in those respective years.
He also cited the Port Harcourt refinery, saying its utilisation fell from 60.73 percent in 2001 to 31.04 percent by 2004, despite the preferential crude supply policy.
Ogra said the arrangement also failed to achieve one of its expected benefits for consumers, as Nigerians did not experience cheaper petrol prices as a result.
He maintained that the Obasanjo administration eventually abandoned the policy after reviewing its outcome and directed the NNPC to pay the international market price for crude supplied to refineries.
Using the historical figures, Ogra argued that Nigeria should be cautious about returning to a subsidy model that had already been tested.
He said the previous experience was important to the ongoing discussion about how best to strengthen domestic refining and ensure adequate petroleum product supplies.
Ogra directly challenged Atiku over the proposal, saying: “President Obasanjo ordered NNPC to pay full international price for refinery crude. Your production subsidy was tried, failed and scrapped, with you as Vice President.”