The price of Premium Motor Spirit popularly called petrol has risen by 81 per cent in the past three years. This is according to the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics reports. This came as findings showed that the Federal Government has paid about N5.83tn subsidy on petroleum products.
NBS data showed that between February 2020 and February 2023, the price of fuel rose from N145.41/litre to N263.76/litre.
The report stated that the average retail price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit in February 2023 was N263.76, indicating a 54.76 per cent increase when compared to the value recorded in February 2022 (N170.42).
Abia (N146.87), Adamawa (N146.67) and Niger (N146.57) have the highest average price of petrol. While states with lowest average price of premium motor spirit include Abuja (N143.67), Enugu (N144.50) and Lagos (N144.73) in 2020.
In the last three years, fuel subsidy has gone up from N134bn in 2020 to N1.43tn in 2021, N4.39tn in 2022 and a projected N3.63tn by June of 2023. This led to a total of N5.83tn in subsidy payments, excluding the figures for 2023.
The Nigerian Government has continued to restate its commitment to remove fuel subsidies with a plan to deregulate the oil market by June this year.