Nigerians Groan As FG Hikes Petrol Price Again To N1,030 Per Litre
Despite falling crude oil prices in the global market, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has again hiked the price of petrol (Premium Motor Spirit) to about N1,030 per litre in Lagos and its environs.
This adjustment, which takes the price up from the previous rate of N980 per litre, was made effective Tuesday, October 29, 2024 and it marks the third price change between September and October 2024.
Though no official statement has come from the NNPCL, competent insiders hinted that the development is part of the government’s deregulation policy, allowing prices to fluctuate based on the so-called supply and demand dynamics in the oil industry.
This is coming barely three weeks after the Nation’s oil giants adjusted the petrol price leaving many Nigerians outraged with as oil marketers and industry experts foreseeing further price hikes in the short term.
As expected, confusion continued to trail this latest price hike late on Tuesday as many stakeholders argued that the drop in crude oil prices in the international market by approximately eight percent (8%) to $72 per barrel from $78 per barrel should have been a positive development on Nigeria’s domestic fuel pricing rather than hurting and further adding to the sufferings of Nigerians.
Reports from Abuja, the nation’s capital indicated a surge in petrol pump price to N1,060 per litre without any prior warning as most NNPCL filling stations quickly adjusted their pump prices.
However, some other marketers who were unaware of the price hike continued dispensing fuel at the old rate until the close of business.
According to informed sources, the latest development is as a result of current depreciation of the Naira, which exchanges at N1,664 per dollar and this will continue to impact fuel pricing in the country.
New Price Hike
Forefront News observed that in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), motorists are now buying petrol with an increase of N30 on the old price, while it is N27 raise in Lagos.
At the NNPCL Mega station along Olusegun Obasanjo Way, Central Business District (CBD), Abuja, commuters were seen scrambling to join the long queue as the pump price was still N1,030 while at Zone 4, Wuse, Abuja NNPCL station, the product price had marginally gone up to N1,060 per litre as at the time of filling this report.
From the May 29, 2023, “subsidy is gone” declaration by President Bola Tinubu, the NNPCL has constantly raised the pump price of petrol from N184 to the current price and still counting nationwide. From N617 to N897 announcement on September 2, 2024 and N897 to N1,030 hike on October 9, 2024, the NNPCL has not let off the steam on pump price increase as the Naira to dollar exchange rate continues to wobble.
CSOs Lament, Task Govt On Policy Thrust
As Nigerians take to social media on Tuesday to vent their frustrations over the continuous and unabated hike in the cost of fuel by the Federal Government, some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) insist urgent measures must be taken to mitigate the hardship being visited on citizens daily due to the current administration’s policy thrust.
They are also advocating that rather than the unsustainable palliatives arrangements, government should empower Nigerians through Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in a manner that they become productive and are able to solve their socio-economic challenges on a daily basis.
For the Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, the government must demonstrate commitment in tackling corruption and blocking leakages in the fuel subsidy system.
This is as he also canvassed that the wealthy and rich of society must be tax as part of measures to effectively address the difficulties and challenges brought about by the vaulting increase in fuel price.
According to him; “The Nigerian government should understand that all over the world, including countries with oil and non-oil, they make efforts to provide subsidies for their citizens, whether in terms of fuel, transportation, agriculture, education and health because there is a rationale for providing subsidies for citizens, especially those unable to meet the necessities of life.
“So, it is only proper that the Nigerian government reasons along that line. What the Nigerian government needs to do is to block the corruption in the fuel subsidy. It is not about the fuel subsidy; it is the corruption in the fuel subsidy that the government should have worked on.
“Our only plea is that the government should block corruption, block leakages and tax those who are not paying taxes. You know the rich men and women are not paying taxes, the international corporations are not paying taxes.
“And these are the areas where they could utilise to mitigate the difficulties and challenges Nigerians are going through”.
On his part, the Chairman, Centre for Accountability and Open Leadership (CAOL), Debo Adeniran, cautioned that the decision could “stoke the embers of discord and unleash the people’s anger against the government”, adding; “Nigeria should look inward to ensure that it does not consume what it doesn’t produce.”
Hear him; “What the government is doing is to stoke the embers of discord. Of course, the administration is losing support daily, and it will get to a stage whereby nobody will be able to stop the people’s anger. And when the people’s anger is unleashed on the government, we can’t predict what will end it.
“For so many years, we have been articulating workable alternatives to economic reconstructive strategies that they are adopting. And we are saying that they should look into ensuring that corruption is controlled, the potential of this country is harnessed, stolen monies retrieved, gains of subsidy withdrawal applied to touch the lives of the generality of the people.
“People should be deliberately empowered to do their businesses in such a way that they will make enough profit with which they can solve their socio-economic problems.
“Nigeria should begin to look inwards rather than outwards to ensure that whatever we cannot produce, we do not consume.”
