The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has proposed a six-month petrol price discount programme aimed toward reducing pump costs by between 15 and 20 per cent, as a part of efforts to ease the rising value of doing enterprise and the burden of residing in Nigeria.
The Chamber urged the Federal Government to collaborate with home refiners, petroleum entrepreneurs, regulators and different stakeholders to implement the proposed programme, which might be measured towards the prevailing nationwide weighted-average petrol price.
The LCCI President, Engr. Leye Kupoluyi, made the proposal in his govt abstract on the state of the financial system for the third quarter of 2026.
Kupoluyi mentioned the proposed intervention ought to ship “progressive, measurable and sustainable reductions in domestic pump prices”, topic to independently verified provide prices, market circumstances and the sustainability of the measures adopted.
He mentioned the Chamber welcomed the Federal Government’s proposed petrol price-stabilisation mechanism, designed to defend companies and households from the fast results of fluctuations in worldwide crude oil costs and overseas change charges.
However, he cautioned that the proposed mechanism alone wouldn’t assure decrease petrol costs or present enough relief to companies and customers.
“Although the proposed ceiling may moderate the immediate transmission of international oil price and exchange-rate shocks, it does not, on its own, guarantee that petrol prices will decline to levels that provide meaningful relief to businesses and consumers,” he mentioned.
According to him, Nigerian companies are already grappling with excessive electrical energy tariffs, substantial expenditure on different energy technology, rising logistics prices and costly financing, with will increase in petrol and diesel costs additional worsening working circumstances.
The LCCI president warned that any association requiring refiners and importers to soak up momentary value will increase and recuperate them when market circumstances enhance might create deferred value obligations.
He mentioned such obligations, if not transparently accounted for and recovered inside clearly outlined limits, might finally set off renewed upward strain on costs.
Kupoluyi subsequently referred to as for a broader energy-cost discount programme that will mix the proposed petrol price intervention with extra dependable electrical energy provide, accelerated gas-to-power improvement, improved home refining effectivity, larger competitors and decrease distribution prices.
“Businesses need energy prices that enable them to produce competitively, not simply arrangements that delay the transmission of higher costs,” he mentioned.
On financial coverage, Kupoluyi mentioned the discount within the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 26.5 per cent to 23 per cent was a welcome improvement however cautioned that it might not robotically translate into cheaper loans for companies.
The LCCI had earlier counseled the 350-basis-point discount by the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee, noting that decrease coverage charges might enhance credit score circumstances and assist private-sector funding.
However, the Chamber president mentioned the transmission of the speed cut to business lending charges and the provision of credit score remained a crucial concern.
“Now we have a lower MPR, but the lending environment remains challenging,” he mentioned.
He defined that banks contemplate a number of elements when assessing mortgage purposes, together with debtors’ money flows, collateral, credit score histories, compensation capability, sectoral dangers and the broader enterprise setting.
Consequently, he warned that insecurity and coverage uncertainty might proceed to affect lenders’ threat assessments, significantly for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
He urged the financial authorities, improvement finance establishments and business banks to strengthen credit score supply to productive companies, significantly in manufacturing, agriculture, export-oriented industries and expertise adoption.
On inflation, the LCCI president welcomed the marginal moderation in headline inflation from 15.43 per cent in July to 15.39 per cent in August 2026.
He additionally famous that month-on-month inflation declined from 1.57 per cent to 0.71 per cent, whereas meals inflation eased from 20.31 per cent to 19.57 per cent year-on-year.
Despite the enhancements, he mentioned the price of residing remained excessive, with households persevering with to battle with meals, transportation, housing, power and different important bills.
He warned that increased petrol and diesel costs might reverse a number of the progress recorded in decreasing inflation as a result of power prices feed into transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, distribution and retail costs.
“The decline in the inflation rate should not be mistaken for a reduction in the overall price level,” he mentioned.
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