Fuel prices skyrocketed to between N500 and N600 in Nigeria on Tuesday, sending transport fares to the rooftop and increasing hardship for passengers and overhead costs for businesses.
This development arose as credible oil marketers await a directive from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) before the adjustment of fuel pump prices.
This decision by the marketers, an industry source told InsideBusinessNG, is because the current stocks were sold to them at the old price by NNPCL, and it would be a disservice to the nation if the marketers hurriedly adjusted the pump prices upward without hearing from NNPCL.
NNPCL, which its Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari met with President Bola Tinubu, is expected to issue a directive to oil marketers later.
The arbitrary jump is in response to the federal government’s plan to remove subsidies which have driven the country’s expenditure overboard and enrich the oil operators, their promoters, and corrupt government officials.
President Tinubu in his inaugural speech has lived up to his manifestoes, announcing the withdrawal of fuel subsidy that has drained funds for development.
“We commend the decision of the outgoing administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime which has increasingly favoured the rich more than the poor”, the President said.
The subsidy policy according to Tinubu, who replaced ex-president Muhammadu Buhari who queried oil subsidy in 2015 but lacked the courage to decide on it, can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources.
“We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investments in public infrastructure, education, health care, and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions”, Tinubu said in a speech that has triggered a reaction from oil operators, the market, and the labor unions.
In a sharp reaction and across the country, InsideBusinessNG findings show fuel prices went up from N199/N200, rising between 100 and 200 per cent, and triggering as much as a 300 percent rise in transport fares especially in cosmopolitan Lagos.
For instance in Mowe/Arepo axis in Ogun state, a litre of fuel rose to N600 from N200, triggering a rise in transport fares from N200/N250 to between N700 and N1,000.
In Lagos, in the Oko-Afo area of Badagry, the price of fuel jumped from N220 to N500 per liter while the Laundromat Filling station, Olowoira was selling to motorists between N400 and N600.
Consequently, transport fares have increased across Lagos. From Seven-Up/Toll gate at Ketu area to Berger both in Ketu/Kosofe area council now go for N300 from N100, while from Motor-Way in Ikosi Ketu to Igbo-Efon in Lekki area is now between N800 and N1000.
In Okitipupa and the larger part of Ondo state, fuel is between N300 and N400 per litre.
A rise in the price of fuel also triggered long queues at filling stations and turning commuters and passengers into victims who waited endlessly for buses to convey them to their workplaces. Some hesitatingly pay the exorbitant price while those who cannot resort to trekking the distance.
While some are selling at exorbitant prices, some hoard the product, awaiting the opportunity to sell the old stock at a much higher price.
In Ekiti state, Governor Biodun Oyebanji cautioned filling stations and marketers against hoarding petroleum products as he invited the leadership of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to a meeting in his office.
He threatened heavy sanctions over the hoarding of petroleum products and against those involved in the arbitrary increase in prices of petroleum products in the state.
Equally, Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has cautioned oil marketers against hoarding the commodity, warning that any oil marketer caught will have its certificate of occupancy revoked.
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