The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has raised the pump price of petrol from about ₦680 to ₦897 per litre, causing widespread concern as the nation faces ongoing fuel scarcity and economic challenges.
Reports earlier emerged that the NNPCL is grappling with over US$6 billion (₦9.5 trillion) in debt owed to its suppliers, which has strained the company’s ability to maintain fuel supply. This has led to the price adjustments across the country
The NNPCL acknowledged the debt situation in a statement released on 1 September, linking the shortages to its financial challenges.
“This financial strain has placed considerable pressure on the company and poses a threat to the sustainability of fuel supply,” NNPCL’s spokesperson Olufemi Soneye said in a statement late on Sunday.
On Tuesday, a survey of NNPCL outlets revealed that the pump price in Abuja had risen to ₦897 per litre, while at the NNPCL station on Awolowo Road in Lagos, the price rose to ₦855 per litre. Other marketers followed suit, with prices exceeding ₦897 per litre in some areas.
The price hike, which follows an earlier increase in the ex-depot price to ₦754 per litre, reportedly reflects global market conditions and efforts to address NNPCL’s financial difficulties.
However, NNPC spokesperson Femi Soneye denied any official price changes, stating that the previous prices remain unchanged.
The Federal Government also denied reports circulating on social media that it had instructed NNPCL to set petrol prices at ₦1,000 per litre.
In a statement, Nneamaka Okafor, media aide to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, dismissed these claims as “baseless and malicious.” She stressed that the government does not interfere in NNPCL’s pricing decisions.
“The Federal Government is compelled to address the outright falsehoods currently being circulated on social media, which claim that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to inflate petroleum prices above the approved pump price,” the statement read.
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