The price of Premium Motor Spirit, more commonly known as gasoline, has risen to N600 per litre from N195 per litre in several regions of the country less than 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu announced the end of fuel subsidies.
Long lines once again appeared at fuel stations in Lagos, Abuja, Ilorin, Benin, Asaba, Port Harcourt, Kano, Makurdi, and other important cities and metropolitan regions as a result of the development, which also caused a 100% increase in transportation costs.
Many fueling stations closed their doors and refused to dispense petrol to drivers, making the situation worse by increasing scarcity and causing panic and desperation buying at the fueling stations that were available to consumers.
In his inaugural speech at Eagle Square on Monday, Tinubu declared that the subsidy program was officially over. He noted that the 2023 Appropriations Act did not include funding for gasoline subsidies after June, which marked the end of the 18-month extension period that the Muhammadu Buhari administration had approved for the program’s termination.
According to data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, The Spectator writes that the petrol subsidy ate up N6.88 trillion under the government of the former President Buhari.
To the dismay of the populace, fuel retailers increased the pump price in response to the President’s Monday statement.
Participants who participated during Tuesday’s The Spectator Twitter space discussion on subsidy elimination claimed to have purchased petrol for a higher price than the set price.
