By Chukwuma Umeorah
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released its Premium Motor Spirit Price (petrol) Watch for February 2023, which reveals a staggering 54.76% increase in the average retail price of petrol in Nigeria. The report states that the price rose from N170.42 in February 2022 to N263.76 in February 2023.
While comparing the average price with the previous month of January 2023, the NBS report shows an increase of 24.58% from N257.12. The state profile analysis revealed that Jigawa State paid the highest average retail price of N329.17 per litre, followed by Rivers State and Ebonyi State at N323.33 and N317.14, respectively.
The South East region recorded the highest average retail price of petrol in February 2023, selling at N306.86 per litre. In contrast, the North-Central region recorded the lowest at N215.01 per litre.
Additionally, the NBS released its Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) Price Watch for February 2023, which revealed that the average retail price for diesel in Nigeria was N836.91 per litre. This price represents a 168.26% increase over the N311.98 per litre paid in February 2022.
The report also revealed that Bauchi State recorded the highest average diesel price in February 2023 at N904.33 per litre, followed by Abuja at N885 per litre and Adamawa at N873.33 per litre. Conversely, Bayelsa State recorded the lowest diesel price at N767.14 per litre, followed by Katsina State at N778.75 per litre and Edo State at N789.43 per litre.
The North Central region had the highest diesel price at N850.65 per litre, while the South-South region recorded the lowest at N814.63 per litre.
These figures are a concern for Nigerians who are already struggling with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It remains to be seen how the government will respond to this development.