THE daily consumption of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol in Nigeria has significantly decreased within one year of President Bola Tinubu taking office on May 29, 2023.
Data sourced from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Product Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Daily Truck Out Report for September 2024 indicated that as of August 20, 2024, petrol consumption had fallen to 4.5 million litres per day.
In contrast, the NMDPRA reported that daily consumption in May 2023 stood at 60 million litres, marking a 92% decline since May 29, 2023.
A detailed analysis of the report revealed that only 16 of Nigeria’s 36 states received fuel allocations from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) during the review period, leading to scarcity in the remaining states in August.
The allocation breakdown showed Niger receiving the highest volume, with 21 trucks (940,000 litres daily), followed by Lagos with 12 trucks (726,001 litres), and Kaduna with 12 trucks (454,001 litres).
Other states, including Oyo, Kano, Ondo, and Kwara, received varying allocations, while states like Sokoto, Ogun, and Osun received as few as 4 and 3 trucks.
On May 29, 2023, President Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidies, which had cost Nigeria about N12 trillion over the past decade. The president argued that the subsidy was unsustainable and had led to substantial national debt.
As a result, petrol prices surged from N195 per litre to around N1,300 per litre, causing headline inflation to rise to a nearly 30-year high of 34.19% in June.
Although inflation slowed to 32.7% in September, the cost of living has spiked, pushing 129 million Nigerians into poverty, according to the World Bank.
The World Bank report highlighted a sharp rise in poverty levels, from 40.1% in 2018 to 56% in 2024, with approximately 129 million Nigerians now living below the national poverty line.
It noted that sluggish economic growth, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation, has severely eroded purchasing power.
Additionally, a related AFP report described how Nigerians have increasingly abandoned their cars due to the economic hardship. Car dealers in Lagos and Abuja reported a surge in people selling fuel-inefficient vehicles like SUVs to cut costs, though demand for such vehicles has sharply declined.
