DAILY TRUST
There are indications of an imminent hike in the price of petrol as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has admitted financial strain.
Government officials have in the past two weeks been hinting that with the fluctuating exchange rate of the Naira against the dollar, it may not be possible to sustain the current official price of N617 per litre for petrol.
Since the past few weeks, long queues have resurfaced at most filling stations belonging to independent marketers in Abuja, Lagos and several other states across the country, where the product is being sold around N720 per litre, with many outlets dispensing the petro for as much as N1,000 per litre.
The price of petrol rose astronomically last year following the removal of subsidy on it by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
After series of denials, the Federal Government had, on June 5, 2024, admitted paying subsidy on petrol.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, in a draft report of the Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan (ASAP) presented to Tinubu, revealed that the estimated expenditure on fuel subsidy for 2024 was N5.4 trillion, which is about N1.8 trillion higher than the amount spent in 2023.
The looming pump price hike would be 4th within 15 months as information gathered from oil marketers suggest that the increase may be much sooner than being expected.
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