The amount Nigerians pay for Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) increased by 10.79 percent to N161.17 in October 2020 compared to a year earlier, according to the latest PMS Price Watch published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on its website on Tuesday.
On a month-on-month basis, the price of petrol increased by 0.07 percent to N161.17 in October 2020, from N161.06 in September.
This is coming after Nigeria said it has dumped an unsustainable petrol subsidy regime amid dwindling revenue occasioned by low oil prices and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
States with the highest average price of petrol include Kebbi N166.50, Yobe N163.58 and Anambra N163, while states with the lowest average include Niger N158.38, Sokoto N158.57, and Delta N159.38.
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Similarly, the price an average consumer pays for Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) increased by 0.05 percent in October 2020.
However, the average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas) decreased by -1.06 percent in October 2020.
Bauchi, Borno and Adamawa were states with the highest average price for the refilling of 5kg cylinder of LPG, NBS said.
With no working refinery capacity, Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude producer, has over time relied on artificially inexpensive fuel while the authorities have spent tens of billions of dollars to subsidise imports.
But the government says it cannot afford to subsidise petrol any more as the coronavirus pandemic batters the economy as falling oil prices robbed Nigeria of a major chunk of its revenues.
Increasing the pain for average Nigerians, the government has also almost doubled the cost of electricity from N33 to more than N60 per kilowatt.
