The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says petrol consumption across the country has dropped by 28 per cent in the past two year.
Latest figures from the NMDPRA indicate that the daily volume of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, dropped from 68.353 million litres in June 2023, when fuel subsidy was removed, to 49.277 million litres in June 2025.
Nigerians have had to pay more since the removal of subsidy with inconsistent adjustments of fuel price across major cities by oil marketers.
President Bola Tinubu had, in his May 29, 2023 inauguration address, declared “subsidy is gone,” and that ushered in untold hardships as prices of good s and services went up from that and had remained so till date.
Following the announcement, NNPC Limited raised the pump price from N195 per litre to N448 in Lagos and from N197 to N557 in Abuja. Less than a month later, prices rose again to N617 per litre.
Since then and with the coming of Dangote Refinery, marketers have reviewed prices a multiple times, with no regulatory body challenging them.
In most cases, Dangote Refinery has been the one directing the direction of prices and instructing its affiliates to sell at approved prices.
One of Dangote’s retail partners, MRS sells petrol at about the lowest price in the country as investigations reveal that MRS has adjusted its pump price to N865 per litre, compared to N870 to N890 at other stations.
The unstable price of fuel has pushed a number of motorists into converting their vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas, CNG vehicles, where prices range between N230 and N235 per kilogram in the FCT,which is far cheaper than fuel.
