There was confusion across Nigeria on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, over the removal of payment of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit also known as Petrol.
In his inauguration speech on May 29, 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu bluntly said, “Petrol subsidy is gone”.
Tinubu’s “petrol subsidy is gone” declaration forced petrol marketers across the country to hike their prices. A litre of petrol was sold between NGN460 to 700 in some parts of Nigeria.
Reacting, loyalists to Tinubu said his predecessor had paid petrol subsidy till the end of June. The government faulted the activities of blackmailers.
There were calls to arrest and shut down any filling station selling the product above the approved pump price of NGN195.
NNPC Limited Surfaced from Its Hideout
While the officials watched as the drama continued, the state-owned enterprise NNPC Limited in a confusing statement declared that it has indeed adjusted the pump price of petrol by almost 200% between NGN488 and NGN557 nationwide.
“NNPC Limited wishes to inform our esteemed customers that we have adjusted our pump prices of PMS across our retail outlets, in line with current market realities, ” the Chief Corporate Communications Officer Garba Deen Muhammad said.
In a list of new petrol pump prices that circulated on social media and confirmed by insiders in NNPC, the price varies from zone to zone.
In a list that InfomediaNG obtained on the Facebook page of Guardian Nigeria, here is the adjusted new petrol pump price in Nigeria after the announcement by the NNPC Limited:
| State | Old price | New pump price for petrol |
| Ekiti | NGN189 | NGN500 |
| Ondo | NGN189 | NGN500 |
| Osun | NGN189 | NGN500 |
| Oyo | NGN189 | NGN500 |
| Ogun | NGN189 | NGN500 |
| Lagos | NGN184 | NGN488 |
| FCT | NGN194 | NGN537 |
| Nasarawa | NGN189 | NGN537 |
| Plateau | NGN189 | NGN537 |
| Kwara | NGN189 | NGN515 |
| Kogi | NGN189 | NGN537 |
| Benue | NGN189 | NGN537 |
| Niger | NGN189 | NGN537 |
| Delta | NGN189 | NGN511 |
| Edo | NGN 189 | NGN511 |
| Cross Rivers | NGN194 | NGN511 |
| Bayelsa | NGN189 | NGN515 |
| Akwa Ibom | NGN194 | NGN515 |
| Rivers | NGN189 | NGN511 |
| Ebonyi | NGN189 | NGN520 |
| Enugu | NGN189 | NGN520 |
| Anambra | NGN189 | NGN520 |
| Imo | NGN189 | NGN515 |
| Abia | NGN189 | NGN515 |
| Zamfara | NGN194 | NGN540 |
| Kebbi | NGN194 | NGN545 |
| Jigawa | NGN194 | NGN540 |
| Sokoto | NGN194 | NGN540 |
| Katsina | NGN194 | NGN540 |
| Kaduna | NGN194 | NGN540 |
| Kano | NGN194 | NGN540 |
| Yobe | NGN199 | NGN557 |
| Borno | NGN199 | NGN557 |
| Gombe | NGN199 | NGN550 |
| Bauchi | NGN199 | NGN550 |
| Taraba | NGN199 | NGN550 |
| Adamawa | NGN199 | NGN550 |
Talks are ongoing – Presidency
While NNPC said it had adjusted its price, Dele Alake, a yet-to-be-confirmed Spokesman to President Tinubu addressed newsmen in Abuja that “We can not go into details now because talks are still ongoing.
“We can not finish everything in one sitting. We have adjourned now, we are continuing the talks at a later date. Very, very shortly.
“The point is that talks are ongoing. And it’s better for all sides to keep talking in a view to arriving at a very amicable resolution that will be in the longer-term interest of all Nigerians.”
Fate of Nigerians
Whether talks were inconclusive, the “Subsidy is gone” declaration by the president is a reality they have to live with. They have to adjust their lives to the RenewHope agenda of the APC-led government.