The Federal Government on Monday said in spite of the recent increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, and the service-based tariff review of electricity cost, the prices in Nigeria still remained among the cheapest in Africa.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, at a press conference in Abuja on Monday said “In spite of the recent increase in the price of fuel to N162 per litre, petrol prices in Nigeria remain the lowest in the West/Central African sub-regions.”
The Minister gave a comparative analysis of petrol prices in the sub-regions (naira equivalent per litre): Nigeria -N162 per litre; Ghana -N332 per litre; Benin -N359 per litre; Togo – N300 per litre; Niger – N346 per litre; Chad -N366 per litre; Cameroon -N449 per litre; Burkina Faso -N433 per litre; Mali -N476 per litre; Liberia –N257 per litre; Sierra Leone -N281 per litre; Guinea -N363 per litre; and Senegal– N549 per litre.
“Outside the sub-region, petrol sells for 211 Naira per litre in Egypt and 168 Naira per litre in Saudi Arabia. You can now see that even with the removal of subsidy, fuel price in Nigeria remains among the cheapest in Africa”, he added.
He also noted that “despite the recent service-based tariff review, the cost of electricity in Nigeria is still cheaper or compares favourably with that of many countries in Africa.”
He compared the recent service-based tariff review on electricity cost to some African countries (cost in naira per kWh): Nigeria– 49.75 per kWh; Senegal – 71.17 per kWh; Guinea 41.36 – per kWh; Sierra Leone– 106.02 per kWh; Liberia – 206.01 per kWh; Niger – 59.28 per kWh; Mali – 88.23 per kWh; Burkina Faso – 85.09 per kWh; Togo –79.88 per kWh.
Lai Mohammed states that the timing of these two necessary adjustments, in the petroleum and power sectors, has raised some concerns among Nigerians. This is a mere coincidence.
“First, the deregulation of PMS prices was announced on 18 March 2020, and the price modulation that took place at the beginning of this month was just part of the on-going monthly adjustments to global crude oil prices”.
“The review of service-based electricity tariffs was scheduled to start at the beginning of July 2020 but was put on hold so that further studies and proper arrangements can be made”, he added
The Minister also states that, “the government is not insensitive to the current economic difficulties our people are going through and the very tough economic situation we face as a nation. We certainly will not inflict hardship on our people”.
“But we are convinced that if we stay focused on our plans, brighter and more prosperous days will come soon”, he said.
