Petrol price hits N620/liter in Lagos
Maureen Aguta
The price of petrol yesterday increased to N650 a liter at the filling stations across Lagos State. Advocacy Times correspondent who went round the state today noted that the product sells at between N620 TO N650 per litter in most parts of the state.
He noted that most of the consumers he spoke to confirmed that the new price regime started from yesterday, October 21, 2023.
Advocacy Times reports that the price of the product has been stable in the last two months in the face of the rising price of crude oil in the international market and a recent disclosure by the Petroleum Marketers Association that the landing price of the product is already over N720/liter.
President Bola Amed Tinubu had at the heat of the threat of the labour Unions to embark on strike, promised that government will ensure that the price of the product stops rising further.
Though it is believed that the government may have secretly restored the subsidy on petrol, government officials have publicly insisted that the ‘petrol subsidy is gone’.
Fuel prices nearly tripled a day after May 29 when President Bola Tinubu said in inauguration speech that administration would no longer subsidise petrol for Nigerians.
In a seemingly off-the-cuff remark during his inaugural speech, Tinubu declared, “the fuel subsidy is gone,” adding that it was unsustainable. The rising costs could not be justified as resources dwindle, he said.
“We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, healthcare and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions,” Tinubu added.
It’s a drastic move for a country in which cheap gasoline has been a feature of daily life for decades and a lifeline to millions of Nigerians facing economic hardships. The last time the government tried to remove fuel subsidies in 2012, it sparked nationwide protests.
Before the price started to rise again yesterday, the Independent Marketers had announced that they were no longer importing the product as it was extremely difficult for them to source foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria and there were fears that fuel scarcity is returning, though the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) allayed the fears, even as it admitted that it is currently the sole importer of the product.