The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has increased the pump price of petrol from ₦568 to ₦897 per litre amid lingering fuel scarcity and crisis in the country.
Reports on the newly increased price come after NNPCL said it owed its suppliers more than $6bn in debt.
Our investigations in Abuja and Lagos confirmed that the price was adjusted on Tuesday.
While the report from Abuja said the price was jerked up to ₦897 per litre, our finding in Lagos shows that NNPCL station at Awolowo Road in Lagos, increased the 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.
