Nigerian National Petroleum Company Denies Fuel Price Hike To N1,200

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has dismissed rumors of fuel price increase in the country and urged motorists to avoid panic buying.

Olufemi Soneye, NNPC's chief corporate communications officer, confirmed Wednesday that there will be no increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol.

Soneye's comments came after some reports online claimed that NNPC will soon increase the fuel pump price across the country up to N1,200 per liter.

NNPC, being the sole importer of petrol in Nigeria, immediately put an end to all speculations, clarifying that the price won't increase any further due to removal of subsidy on the fuel.

"NNPC Ltd assures the public that there is no imminent increase in the cost of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol," Soneye said, Punch reported.

NNPC asked Nigerians to disregard unfounded rumors. It assured that there are no plans for an upward review of the PMS price and there is ample availability of fuel in the country.

The removal of fuel subsidy, which was announced by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, increased fuel prices sharply to N600 per liter from N195 per liter, resulting in steep increase in costs of all goods and services, especially food prices.

In July, thousands of youth attacked the National Emergency Management Agency warehouses in the states of Kaduna and Adamawa to steal food and other items.

In his New Year's speech, Alfred Martins, the Catholic archbishop of Lagos, urged the Tinubu-led administration and other state governments to make the lives of Nigerians easier.

Apart from fuel subsidy removal, he pointed out that demonetization also brought hardships for Nigerians, which created a cash crunch in the country, causing an estimated loss of N20 trillion.

With the country going through an economic crisis, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) last year warned that the situation would deepen poverty.

However, Tinubu issued a statement last week and asked Nigerians to be patient and confident as Nigeria will "shortly emerge into a new dawn of prosperity, peace, and irreversible progress."