Nigerians were jolted on Tuesday following a further increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, popularly known as petrol, anger and condemnations poured in from across the country, with the citizens describing the decision as insensitive.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had in his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, announced an end to the fuel subsidy regime.
Even though the subsidy regime covered the month of June, oil marketers swiftly adjusted their metres to N500 and above per litre of petrol.
However, less than two months after that increment, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Limited, NNPCL, has announced another increment, blaming it on market forces.
It’s reaction to the new development, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Wednesday approved an upward review in the pump price of petroleum nationwide, shooting the price up to an average of N500 from the erstwhile average of N189. The approval took effect from Wednesday, 31 May, the NNPCL said in a circular.
Here are 5 areas Nigerians would be affected by it.
1. Food Price
Food prices are up by over 150 percent, and transportation costs have almost doubled respectively year-on-year, according to BusinessDay’s market checks.
With food inflation hitting 24.61 percent, the key driver of Nigeria’s core inflation as over 90 percent of the country’s working population spends 60 percent of their income on food and related expenses, analysts say.
2. Transport Fare
Transport fares and prices of essential goods and services shot up significantly across the country last week as Nigerians grappled with the ripple effect of the government’s decision on fuel subsidy removal, due to the increase of fuel, the distance at which people travels would also be affected because the price would definitely be changed.
3. Cost of living
The recent surge in the price of fuel across the country will worsen the country’s cost of living crisis as households struggle to keep up with the rising cost of goods and services.
“Cost of living is about to skyrocket with this fuel subsidy removal,” Dapo David said in a tweet while reacting to the announcement removal of the fuel subsidy.
