HERE are shockwaves among motorists and businesses as petrol pump price climbed to as high as N1,400 per litre in parts of the country barely 24 hours after Dangote Petroleum Refinery increased its petrol gantry price by N85 per litre.
The latest price adjustment has heightened fears of further increase in transportation, logistics and production costs, with consumers worried that petrol could sell for even more in other parts of the country because of transportation and distribution costs.
The development came after Dangote Refinery raised its Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) gantry price from N1,265 to N1,350 per litre, representing a 6.7 percent increase.
The increase also came amid a sharp rise in international crude oil prices and higher petroleum product replacement costs. Industry data showed PMS landing cost had risen to about N1,311 per litre, bringing further pressure to the domestic market.
Checks showed that petrol was being sold at different prices across filling stations between N1,390 per litre and N1, 400 per litre. NNPC sold at about N1,380 per litre, while MRS and Matrix stations sold at around N1,395 per litre. In Lagos, some motorists reported buying the product for N1,390 to N1,400 per litre.
A motorist, who identified himself as Olufemi, said that the latest increase as another ‘routine burden’ on Nigerians already struggling with rising living costs.
He said he bought petrol at N1,390 per litre at an MRS station on Sunday morning, less than 12 hours after purchasing the product at a lower price.
The impact was also being felt in public transportation.
A commercial driver, Mr Anozie, said he increased his fare from 7-Up Bus Stop, Ojota, to Victoria Island to N2,000 per passenger, blaming the increase on the latest petrol price adjustment.
A filling station manager, who declined to be named, attributed the frequent changes in pump prices to fluctuations in wholesale and depot costs.
In Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Kwara, FCT and others states, things are not different as marketers sell between N1,380 and N4,000 per litre.
Former director-general of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Muda Yusuf, warned that rising fuel prices were worsening the cost pressures confronting households and businesses.
He said higher fuel costs were increasing transportation, logistics and production expenses, weakening purchasing power and worsening the competitiveness challenges facing businesses, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises.
Yusuf said the current escalation in petrol prices had become a serious cost-of-living, inflation and competitiveness challenge, requiring urgent policy intervention.
The latest increase is the fourth upward review of Dangote Refinery’s petrol gantry price since August 21.
The refinery first raised its petrol price from N1,165 to N1,185 per litre on August 21, before increasing it to N1,200 on August 26.
It subsequently moved the price to N1,265 on August 29, and then to N1,350 per litre, representing a total increase of N185 per litre, or about 15.9 per cent, in 22 days.
With petrol prices now approaching the N1,400 mark in parts of the country, households, transport operators and businesses are bracing for another round of cost increases, particularly if the upward movement in crude oil and product replacement costs persists.
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has warned that the suffocating energy tariffs and other challenges have continued to erode the nation’s industrial capacity, and hinder the growth of small and medium enterprises in the country.
The association argued that instead of expanding production lines or acquiring modern technology, most factories are presently preoccupied with keeping the lights on, thereby leaving the nation’s businesses less competitive, globally, due to high energy costs.
Citing the Q2 2026 minimal contribution of the nation’s manufacturing sector to GDP, MAN argued that sustainable national prosperity would only be achieved with active domestic manufacturing, and not just service consumption and extraction.
It argued that the underperformance in labour-intensive sectors such as textile, apparel and footwear directly threatens wage employment and risks triggering job losses across lower and middle income demographics.
Yusuf recalled that Nigeria previously spent an estimated $10 billion-$15 billion annually on petroleum-product imports, putting pressure on foreign-exchange liquidity and external reserves.
He said subsidy and under-recovery obligations also absorbed substantial public resources and encouraged arbitrage and cross-border diversion of subsidised petroleum products.
He argued that the former regime therefore created problems extending beyond petrol pricing, affecting public finances, foreign exchange and resource allocation.
He said that market-based pricing had improved the commercial prospects of domestic refining by providing investors with greater incentives to commit capital to the sector.
He noted that stronger domestic refining capacity would reduce dependence on imported petroleum products, conserve foreign exchange and create opportunities in petrochemicals, fertiliser, logistics, storage and other related industries.
He suggested that Nigeria should therefore pursue the development of a competitive regional refining and petrochemical hub.
He also cautioned against attributing the latest petrol-price increases entirely to subsidy removal, saying that petrol was selling at about N774-N800 per litre before the recent escalation in international energy prices, after which prices rose above N1,300 per litre.
Yusuf stressed that subsidy removal was a domestic structural reform, while the latest increase was also influenced by external crude-oil and refined-product price shocks.
Rather than reinstating universal petrol subsidy, the CPPE boss called for measures that directly address the causes of rising household and business costs.
He recommended expanded mass transit and rail freight, improved electricity supply, greater use of CNG and distributed energy, stronger food production, targeted social protection and improved public healthcare and education.
He also urged government to reduce energy, logistics and financing costs for MS-MEs and maintain a predictable policy environment for domestic refining investment.
He further called for greater transparency from the federal, state and local governments on how additional revenues arising from subsidy reform are being spent.
He said the success of the reform should ultimately be measured not only by fiscal savings but by whether those resources translate into better infrastructure, public services, lower structural costs, stronger domestic production and improved welfare for Nigerians.