President Bola Tinubu has been given a choice of continuing the naira-for-crude arrangement between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and local refineries or escalation of the economic crisis that has continue to plague the country.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) made the call in a statement on Monday stressing that the President has to make the choice or trigger a meltdown of the economy due to a surge in fuel prices.
“We are praying President Tinubu to direct his Coordinating Minister for the Economy and the Minister of Finance to transparently and rapidly reach agreement to continue the naira-to-crude deal with local crude oil refineries, including the Dangote Petroleum refinery,” HURIWA said in the statement signed by its national coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko
“We make this public supplication and appeal because any alteration to this deal would mean excruciating hardships and the massive affliction of poverty on millions of the already suffering, struggling, and multidimensionally poor households,” the statement read.
The naira-for-crude arrangement, introduced in October 2024 and set to expire on March 31, 2025, enabled local refineries to receive crude oil from NNPCL while making payments in naira. With its expiration, oil marketers have warned that petrol pump prices may rise significantly if the deal is not renewed.
