Accord Party presidential aspirant, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has said petrol could sell for about N605 per litre in Nigeria if the Federal Government reviewed its domestic crude pricing model.

Olawepo-Hashim made the assertion while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he challenged the government’s explanation of the high cost of petrol and the continued debate over fuel subsidy.

According to him, the current pump price of petrol is inflated largely because crude supplied to domestic refineries is priced in a manner that reflects international market rates.

He said data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) showed that the cost of producing a barrel of crude in Nigeria was about $30.

Olawepo-Hashim proposed adding a $15 margin, about $5 for refining and $7 for transportation and insurance, bringing the estimated cost to approximately $57 per barrel.

Using an exchange rate of N1,400 to the dollar, he calculated that the figure could translate to a petrol price of about N501 per litre.

He, however, proposed N605 per litre as a more sustainable pump price, saying the additional amount could include an energy tax of about N100 per litre to support the development of alternative energy sources.

The Accord chieftain also disputed the description of the former petrol pricing arrangement as a subsidy, describing the subsidy debate as largely an issue of government accounting.

“What you have had really has never been any subsidy, even when we had lower pump petrol prices. The subsidy issue is more of an accounting magic,” he said.

He argued that crude supplied to Nigerian refineries should not automatically be sold at the same price as crude exported to the international market.

“You cannot price your local products at international price,” he said.

Olawepo-Hashim cited oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as examples of nations that, according to him, do not apply international crude prices to their domestic markets in the same manner as Nigeria.

He also called for greater transparency in the determination of Nigeria’s crude production costs, alleging that the existing system could involve “a lot of over-invoicing.”

“If anyone has a different idea, they should bring their books. Let’s see what it is, how much it costs to produce a barrel of crude in Nigeria,” he said.