Keypoints
- The Federal Workers Forum (FWF) is advocating for the decentralization of crude oil refining, suggesting it could drop the pump price of petrol to N100 per litre.
- General Secretary Andrew Emelieze stated on Sunday, April 26, 2026, that empowering state governments to run refineries would break the monopoly on imports and conserve foreign exchange.
- The proposal includes a call for the National Assembly to enact legislation allowing states to develop modular refineries supported by federal financial aid.
- Proponents argue that local refining would reduce the risks of pipeline vandalism and distribution bottlenecks while creating thousands of grassroots jobs.
- The forum links Nigeria’s high cost of living directly to energy prices and views homegrown refining as the primary solution to economic instability.
Main Story
A bold new proposal has entered the national debate on energy costs. The Federal Workers Forum (FWF) has formally urged the Federal Government to allow state governments to build and manage their own oil refineries.
According to the forum’s General Secretary, Andrew Emelieze, the current centralized system is a major driver of inflation, but a decentralized, competitive market could theoretically bring the price of petrol down to just N100 per litre.
The plan centers on the proliferation of modular refineries across the country. By refining crude oil at the state level, the FWF argues that Nigeria would no longer need to spend scarce foreign exchange on fuel imports.
This shift would not only lower prices at the pump but also stimulate industrial activities such as fertilizer production and electricity generation.
To make this a reality, the forum is calling for urgent legislative reforms to provide states with the legal and financial backing needed to transition from being oil-producing territories to refining hubs.
The Issues
The primary challenge is the refining-feasibility gap; while a N100 price point is a popular target, current global crude oil prices and the high cost of specialized refining technology make such a low price difficult to achieve without significant government intervention. Authorities must solve the problem of regulatory-friction, as the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) currently centralizes many oversight functions that would need to be devolved to states.
Furthermore, there is an infrastructure-security risk; decentralized refineries would require a vast network of feeder pipelines or specialized transport systems, which could become new targets for the same vandalism the FWF hopes to eliminate. To succeed, the “decentralization” model must be paired with transparent governance to ensure state-run refineries are managed professionally rather than as political tools.
What’s Being Said
- “Decentralising refining will promote healthy competition among states and ultimately reduce the pump price of petrol,” stated Andrew Emelieze.
- Emelieze argued that local refining will “ease pressure on foreign exchange, create jobs and stimulate industrial growth.”
What’s Next
- The National Assembly is expected to receive formal petitions from labor groups and the FWF to review sections of the Petroleum Industry Act regarding state refining licenses.
- State governors, particularly in the South-South and North-West, are anticipated to begin feasibility studies on modular refinery clusters to assess their economic viability.
- Economists are likely to release detailed “price-point models” to determine if N100 per litre is achievable under current market conditions without returning to a subsidy regime.
- The Federal Government may respond with a pilot program allowing a few select states to test the modular refining model before a nationwide rollout.
Bottom Line
The Federal Workers Forum’s proposal is a direct challenge to the status quo of fuel importation. While the N100 per litre target remains ambitious, the call for decentralization represents a growing demand for a “homegrown” energy strategy that puts the power of production—and pricing—into the hands of the states.
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