Fuel Could Hit ₦5,000/Litre Under Tinubu’s Second Term, SDP’s Adebayo Warns

The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has issued a bleak economic warning, projecting that the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, could soar to an unprecedented ₦5,000 per litre if President Bola Tinubu secures a second term in office.

In a press release issued on Wednesday by his campaign’s Chief Communications Adviser, Comrade Mark Adebayo, the opposition leader claimed that the current administration’s aggressive economic overhauls have set Nigeria on an unsustainable hyper-inflationary path. He argued that without an immediate and radical shift away from full deregulation and the continuous floating of the Naira, skyrocketing fuel prices will become inevitable.

The ‘Devaluation Loop’

Adebayo predicated his alarming ₦5,000-per-litre projection on what he described as a vicious currency devaluation loop. Because Nigeria remains heavily reliant on imported petrol priced in United States Dollars, the local pump price is at the mercy of the foreign exchange market.

“As long as the Central Bank allows the Naira to float without strong local production backing it, the currency will continue to weaken,” Adebayo warned, calculating that if the exchange rate slips to ₦3,500 to $1 in the coming years, the landing cost of fuel alone will breach the ₦4,000 mark.

Criticising the administration’s handling of the economy, Adebayo added, “You cannot have economic illiterates running your country and expect the people not to suffer. They don’t understand how to run a developing economy in complex modern global dynamics.”

A Vicious Inflationary Spiral

The SDP candidate further argued that the total elimination of fuel subsidies has stripped the federal government of its ability to shield citizens from volatile global oil markets. Should international crude prices spike due to geopolitical tensions, Nigerian consumers will bear 100% of the burden at the pump.

According to Adebayo, this triggers a devastating domino effect: high fuel costs drive up transport inflation, which instantly spikes food prices, ultimately crushing the purchasing power of ordinary Nigerians. He also pointed to high Central Bank interest rates, which force oil marketers to borrow at exorbitant rates to fund imports, adding hundreds of Naira in hidden financing and distribution fees to every litre.

Alternative Economic Vision

Adebayo dismissed the current administration’s strategy as an over-reliance on “foreign IMF-style models” that prioritise taxation and devaluation over internal productivity. “A ₦5,000 fuel price is not a myth; it is basic mathematics based on the direction the Tinubu administration is walking,” he stated.

Looking ahead to the upcoming elections, the SDP standard-bearer promised a completely different economic philosophy. He pledged that if elected next year, his administration would move swiftly to revive Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity through transparent public-private partnerships and reintroduce targeted economic cushions to protect citizens from financial collapse.