The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Product Regulatory Authority’s Daily Truck Out Report for August 2024 contained data that Channels Television was able to obtain. The report indicated that as of August 20, 2024, daily consumption was 4.5 million litres.
Suffering: Under Tinubu, Daily Fuel Consumption Drops by 92%
Nigeria’s daily use of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol has significantly decreased in the less than a year since President Bola Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023.As of August 20, 2024, consumption was 4.5 million litres per day, according to data obtained by Channels Television from the most recent report of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Product Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Daily Truck Out Report for August 2024.As per the NMDPRA, the amount of gasoline consumed daily as of May 2023 was 60,000,000,000 litres.This results in a 92% reduction in daily consumption after May 29, 2023.Remarkably, only 16 of the federation’s 36 states received product allocation from the NMDPRA, according to the report.
According to a breakdown of how the NMDPRA divided up the products among the 16 states, Niger received the largest allocation—21 trucks, or 940 000 litres per day—followed by Lagos with 12 trucks, or 726 001 litres, and Kaduna with 12 trucks, or 454, 001 litres.Other states received 12 454-liter trucks from Oyo, 9 trucks from Kano, 6 trucks from Ondo, 6 trucks from Kwara, 4 trucks from Edo, and 4 trucks from FCT.The NMDPRA provided four trucks to states like Sokoto, three trucks to Ogun, three trucks to Osun, one truck each to Gombe, Benue, Ekiti, and Kebbi.On May 29, 2023, President Tinubu announced the end of petrol subsidies, which at the time had cost roughly N12 trillion over ten years.
The president claimed that because paying for petrol subsidies had left the nation deeply in debt, it was no longer feasible.According to the most recent data from the World Bank, the price of petrol has since skyrocketed from N195 per litre to about N1300 per litre, driving up headline inflation to 32.70 percent as of September 2024 and driving up the cost of living, pushing 129 million Nigerians into poverty.In June, inflation hit a nearly three-decade high of 34.19 percent. Since then, it has decreased, reaching 32.7% in September.The over 129 million Nigerians, according to the global financial organisation, marked a significant increase from 40.1% in 2018 to 56% in 2024.
According to the World Bank report, poverty has increased significantly because growth is not keeping up with inflation. According to estimates, the percentage of Nigerians living below the national poverty line16 has increased dramatically from 40.1% to 56.0% since 2018.This, along with population growth, indicates that 129 million Nigerians are impoverished. This striking rise is partially explained by Nigeria’s troubled growth trajectory. The real GDP per capita has not yet returned to its pre-recession level in 2016, which was brought on by rising oil prices.This decline in economic activity was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, growth is not keeping up with inflation because of significant price increases for practically all goods, which have reduced purchasing power.
“Many shocks in an environment of high economic insecurity have deepened and broadened poverty,” the statement continued. Over 115 million Nigerians were estimated to be living in poverty in 2023. About 35 million more people have entered poverty since 2018–19, bringing the estimated number of poor Nigerians to 51.1% of the country’s population in 2023.
According to a related story by the international news agency AFP, Nigerians have since given up on driving due to the extreme hardship.”I parked it at my son’s residence. Emmanuel, a 72-year-old retired health worker, told AFP, “I now use public transport.” “It may not be convenient, but the state of the economy requires it.”Automobile dealers in Lagos and Abuja told AFP that, in an effort to save money, they had noticed an increasing number of people trading in their fuel-guzzling cars and SUVs for more economical vehicles.Automobile dealer Maji Abubakar in Abuja told AFP that “people are actually selling their big cars these days.” “The issue is that there is not much demand for them, even if you put them on the market.””The primary reason I have not sold an eight-cylinder car in over a year is the cost of petrol,” he continued.
