Arbitrary Petrol Price Increases Grip Several Nigerian States Beyond Official Rates

Multiple states in Nigeria are grappling with arbitrary hikes in petrol pump prices, a situation that has led to concerns over the financial burden imposed on citizens. According to a recently released report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) titled “Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) Price Watch” for July 2023, Borno state has taken the lead, recording a pump price of N657.27 per litre, surpassing the official post-subsidy adjusted price of N600.35 per litre by 9.5 percent.

In a similar vein, Abia state followed closely with a price of N643.15 per litre, while Gombe state secured the third spot with N642.22 per litre, overshooting the adjusted prices by 7.13 percent and 6.9 percent respectively.

Simultaneously, the NBS report on “Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) Price Watch” for July 2023 unveiled that Niger state took the lead in diesel prices, reaching N892.50 per litre, signifying a 12.34 percent increase from N794.48.

Abia state maintained a close second position with diesel prices reaching N890.63 per litre. Enugu state secured the third position with N872.73 per litre, displaying an increase of 12.1 percent and 9.85 percent respectively.

In contrast, Edo, Kwara, and Benue states presented the lowest retail prices for petrol, standing at N530.00, N535.44, and N537.00 respectively, as per the NBS report. Meanwhile, Bayelsa, Anambra/Bauchi, and Ondo states recorded the lowest retail diesel prices at N683.20, N700.00, and N701.58 respectively.

The NBS report also unveiled a significant year-on-year rise in the average price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, surging by 215.95 percent to N600.35 in July 2023 from N190.01 recorded during the same period in 2022. Similarly, the average retail price of Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) marked a year-on-year increase of 2.60 percent to N794.48 per litre in July 2023 from N774.38 per litre in July 2022.

Analyzing the monthly fluctuations, the report indicated that the retail price of a litre of petrol witnessed a 9.99 percent increase to N600.35 in July 2023 from N545.83 in June 2023. Conversely, the diesel price experienced a month-on-month decrease of 2.62 percent, reaching N794.48 in July 2023 from N815.83 in June 2023.

The regional breakdown of the average PMS price indicated that the North-East zone recorded the highest average price at N630.13, while the North-Central zone reported the lowest at N551.58. On the other hand, the North-Central zone held the highest average price of Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) at N863.10, while the South-West zone marked the lowest price at N759.45 in comparison to other zones.