Nigerians voice out their frustrations On Dangote and POrtharcourt Refinery amid high fuel price

Reactions have continued to trail the persistent high cost of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, commonly known as petrol in Nigeria despite having two functional refineries in the country: Dangote and Port Harcourt refineries.

Many Nigerians say the price of fuel was expected to reduce with the coming on board of the two refineries in the country.

Kpakpando reports that the first petrol price hike occurred shortly after President Bola Tinubu announced subsidy removal in May 2023, causing a major price disruption in the petroleum industry.

After the announcement, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, raised the price from N195 to between N448 and N557 per litre- a 185.64% increase.

The federal government, however, defended the hike, explaining that the subsidy, which cost over N400 billion monthly, was unsustainable.

Barely a month later, precisely June 2023, the price of petrol rose again from N557 to N617 per litre, an increase of 10.77%.

NNPCL attributed the hike to market dynamics, with the President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chinedu Okoronkwo, confirming that global economic factors beyond local control were responsible for the increase