Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Monday, said the price of petrol in Nigeria remained among the cheapest in Africa.
The minister, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja, was reacting to criticism trailing last week’s increase in the pump price of petrol from N151 to N162 per litre.
Also at the press briefing were the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman; and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) and other civil society organisations had insisted that they would go ahead with Tuesday’s rally against the hike in fuel pump price and electricity tariffs.
Mohammed said: “Despite 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.
“Below is 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 N211 per litre in Egypt and N168 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.”
