We Need Investment in Mass Transit After 50% Drop in Petrol

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

President Bola Tinubu has disclosed that Nigeria has reduced the importation of premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, by 50 per cent since his administration announced an end to fuel subsidy last year.

On Monday 29, 2023, during his inaugural speech in Abuja, Mr Tinubu declared that “fuel subsidy is gone” and almost immediately, the price of the product went up across the country.

Before his announcement, a litre of petrol was selling at N165 but at the moment, it sells between N568 per litre and N650 per litre, depending on the location and fuel station.

The current price has remained constant for some months despite adjustments to the price of crude oil and a significant devaluation of the Naira to the Dollar, fuelling speculations that the government has resumed the payment of subsidy through the back door.

On Wednesday, Mr Tinubu arrived in Lagos ahead of the commissioning of the Red Line rail project in the city he governed from 1999 to 2007.

While answering questions from a TVC reporter, the President expressed joy with the project, saying it will ease the transportation burden on residents of the state.

According to him, the reduction in petrol imports by half should be followed by investment in mass transit to move people at cheaper prices.

“Having cut the importation of petrol by 50 per cent, we need investment in mass transit to make it easy for the people and that is what this is all about,” the President said while enjoying the train ride with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and others.

Yesterday in Abuja, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris, also confirmed that petrol importation into the country has dropped by 50 per cent since the removal of the subsidy, attributing this to the removal of the petrol subsidy.

“Petrol importation has been reduced by 50 per cent since the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy,” he said, adding that local oil production has risen from 1.22 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter of 2023 to about 1.55 million in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023.