The prices of major fuels, including Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol, diesel, as well as gas continued to rise in May 2024, taking their tolls on transportation costs nationwide.
Latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the average retail price paid by consumers for petrol in May was N769.62, indicating a 223.21 per cent increase compared to the N238.11 recorded in May 2023.
Likewise, comparing the average price value with the previous month, April 2024, the average retail price increased by 9.75 per cent from N701.24.
On State profile analysis, Jigawa state had the highest average retail price for petrol at N937.50 while Ondo and Benue States were next, with N882.67 and N882.22, respectively.
In contrast, Lagos, Niger and Kwara states had the lowest average retail prices for the fuel, at N636.80, N642.16 and N645.15 respectively, while on the zonal basis, the North-west zone had the highest average retail price of N845.26, even as the North-central zone had the lowest price of N695.04.
On May 29, during his inauguration, President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy, resulting in the astronomical rise in prices and pushing the country’s inflation rate even higher.
Last month, Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to a new 28-year high of 33.95 per cent, worsening hardship that was already fuelling public anger.
Also, the average retail price of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or diesel paid by consumers increased by 66.29 per cent on a year-on-year basis from a lower cost of N844.28 per litre recorded in the corresponding month in 2023, to a higher cost of N1,403.96 per litre in May 2024.
But on a month-on-month basis, a negligible decrease of 0.78 per cent was recorded from N1,415.06 in the preceding month of April 2024 to an average of N1403.96 in April 2024.
Looking at the variations in the state prices, the top three states with the highest average price of the product in May 2024 included: Adamawa state (N1709.00), Sokoto state (N1675.00) and Bauchi state (N1657.92).
Besides, the top three states where lowest prices were recorded included: Niger state (N1140.20), Kano state (N1153.33) and Oyo state (N1236.92), while the zonal representation of average price of diesel showed that North-east zone had the highest price of N1605.91 as South-west emerged with lowest price N1303.60 when compared with other zones.
Although the price of diesel has long been deregulated, the cost per litre remains relatively high, with the international price of crude oil still high at about $85 per barrel. Besides, other bottlenecks like the cost of transporting it around the nation, add to the final cost to consumers.
As expected, the soaring fuel prices raised the transport fares for the month, covering bus journeys within the city; intercity, airfare charge for specified routes; journey by motorcycle and waterways passenger transport.
The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop increased to 0.86 per cent from N967.76 in April 2024 to N976.08 in May 2024, but on a year-on year basis, it increased by 50.26 per cent from N649.59 in May 2023.
In another category, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop was N7,129.46 in May 2024, indicating an increase of 0.10 per cent on a month-on-month basis compared to N7,122.57 in April 2024.
On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 78.14 per cent from N4,002.16 in May 2023. In air travel, the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey was N89,432.43 in May 2024, showing an increase of 0.27 per cent while compared to previous month (April 2024).
On a year-on -year basis, the fare rose by 19.32 per cent from N74,948.78 in May 2023. For water transport, the average fare paid in May 2024 was N1,385.95 which remained the same when compared to the previous month, but on a year-on-year basis, it increased by 32.61 per cent from N1,045.15 in May 2023.
According to the NBS data, the average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas increased by 13.75 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N6,521.58 recorded in April 2024 to N7,418.45 in May 2024.
On a year-on-year basis, this increased by 70.12 per cent from N4,360.69 in May 2023. On state profile analysis, Benue recorded the highest aver age price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas with N8,012.03, followed by Enugu with N7,926.21, and Ondo with N7,857.53.
On the other hand, Yobe recorded the lowest price with N5,842.31, followed by Jigawa and Katsina with N6,521.81 and N6,567.95 respectively.
In addition, analysis by zone showed that the South-east recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of gas, with N7,680.87, followed by the South-west with N6,593.93 while the North-east recorded the lowest with N7,071.84.
Also, the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas on a year-on-year basis, rose by 63.85 per cent from N9,537.89 in May 2023.
On state profile analysis, Zamfara recorded the highest average retail price for the refilling of a 12.5kg gas, with N18,369.33, followed by Bayelsa with N17,772.21 and Abia with N17,538.02.
Conversely, the lowest average price was recorded in Bauchi with N13,076.43, followed by Ebonyi and Taraba with N13,788.09 and N13,860.31 respectively.
