PETROL USE IN NIGERIA FALLS AFTER SUBSIDY ENDS, REGULATOR SAYS

Thu 06 July 2023:

The average daily usage of petrol in Nigeria has decreased by 28% after President Bola Tinubu ended a popular but expensive fuel subsidy at the end of May, data from the industry regulator has shown.

According to data provided to the Reuters news agency by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the average daily consumption of gasoline decreased to 48.43 million liters (13 million gallons) in June from the previous average of 66.9 million.

Since the subsidy was ended, a black market in neighbouring Cameroon, Benin and Togo – that relied on petrol smuggled from Nigeria – has collapsed.

Petrol prices have nearly tripled in Nigeria, angering unions and causing a spike in transport costs, a move that even Tinubu had predicted. It has also hit small businesses and millions of households who rely on petrol generators for power due to intermittent grid supply.

“I admit that the decision will impose [an] extra burden on the masses of our people. I feel your pain,” the president had said in a broadcast to mark Democracy Day – June 12.

Nigerians, the president said, should bear the decision to “save our country from going under”.

For decades, a subsidy kept prices low in Africa’s largest economy, but it proved increasingly costly for the country – the government spent $10 billion last year – leading to larger deficits and increased government debt.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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