The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has increased the pump price of petrol from ₦568 to ₦855, ₦897 (depending on the location per litre) amid lingering fuel scarcity and the country’s crisis.
Reports on the newly increased price come after NNPCL said it owed its suppliers more than $6bn in debt.
Our correspondents who reported from Abuja and Lagos confirmed the price adjustment on Tuesday.
While the report from Abuja said price was jerked up to ₦897 per litre, our correspondent in Lagos said NNPC station at Awolowo Road in Lagos increased price to ₦855 per litre.
Other marketers have since jerked up prices too following NNPCL’s price adjustment, with over 30 per cent increments reported, to around ₦897 per litre.
Reports earlier revealed a hike in the ex-depot price of the product to ₦754 per litre.
Speculations revealed the price was reviewed upward to reflect the global price and to reduce the debt burden on NNPCL.
The NNPC spokesperson, Femi Soneye denied any adjustments in prices, stressing that the old price remains.
Earlier, the Federal Government also denied reports that it directed NNPCL to peg fuel prices at ₦1,000.
“The federal government is compelled to address the outright falsehoods currently being circulated on social media, which claim that the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to inflate petroleum prices above the approved pump price,” said a Tuesday statement by Nnemaka Okafor, special adviser, media and communication, to the Minister for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri.
