Nigeria Directs Crackdown On Petrol Profiteering, Underdispensing

Juliet Oladele, Reporting 

THE Federal Government of Nigeria has directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to enforce strict consumer protection and anti-profiteering measures, warning that deregulation must not become a cover for exploitation.

Speaking at the NMDPRA General Counsel and Legal Advisers Forum 2026 in Abuja, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, declared that the law is no longer sufficient unless it delivers predictable outcomes for investors and fair value for Nigerians.

“For too long, the dominant question in our regulatory conversations has been: are operators complying? That question matters. It will always matter. But it is no longer sufficient,” he said.

“The more consequential question today is this: are our regulatory authorities doing their job? Is it clear, consistent, and predictable enough to give investors the confidence they need to commit capital, not just for one cycle, but for the long term?”

With the forum themed “Beyond Compliance: Driving Regulatory Certainty and Investment Confidence in Nigeria’s Petroleum”, the Minister stressed that Nigeria is competing in a global environment where capital increasingly flows to jurisdictions with clear policies and effective institutions.

“I want to be direct: we are competing well,” he said, crediting the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 with transforming the sector’s governance architecture.

“However, he warned that implementation is what counts. “The PIA gave us the architecture. What we must now build is the culture, the institutional habits, the interpretive discipline, and the regulatory character that make the law’s objective real.”

The Minister described full deregulation under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “bold reform” that has operationalised the Dangote Refinery and other projects, adding: “Artificial scarcity has become a thing of the past. You can attest to the fact that since 2023 there has been availability of product in-country even with the recent challenges posed by the US/Iranian conflict.”

Turning to consumer protection, Lokpobiri raised two critical issues. “Beyond allowing prices to be determined by market forces, the question is: what is the regulator doing to ensure that consumers receive the correct quantity of product? When someone pays for ten litres of Premium Motor Spirit, they should receive exactly ten litres, not less.”

He also addressed pricing following the de-escalation of tensions between Iran and the United States. “We expected to see commensurate downward adjustment in the prices of PMS and other petroleum products.

“However, that has not yet happened. While we believe that market forces will eventually restore equilibrium, the regulator also has a statutory responsibility to ensure that deregulation does not become an avenue for profiteering.”

Addressing General Counsel and legal advisers, the Minister urged them not to let caution become obstruction. “The modern General Counsel is not a gatekeeper.

“The modern General Counsel is a strategic partner. Your role is not only to ask ‘is this lawful?’ It is to ask ‘does this regulation achieve its stated objective? Does it enable responsible investment or frustrate it?’”

He concluded: “We will not be judged by the number of regulations we produce or the volume of guidelines we issue. We will be judged by the investments we attract, the businesses we enable, the jobs we create, and the value we leave behind for future generations.”

In his opening remarks, NMDPRA Authority Chief Executive, Abdullahi Umar, stressed that effective regulation cannot be achieved through regulations alone.

He committed the Authority to openness and responsiveness, stating that it “will continue to engage openly with stakeholders, act transparently, regulate fairly and consistently, and remain responsive to the realities of an evolving industry.”

Umar said the objective is a sector that is “not only compliant, but competitive; not only regulated, but trusted; not only operational, but investable – and most importantly, not only successful today, but sustainable for generations to come.”