What do you believe is the single most important factor driving up the cost of living in Nigeria?

As news broke that the Dangote Refinery had reached agreement to sell petrol to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCl), Nigerians began feeling excited and hoping that gasoline prices would drop in the country.

However, that hope was dashed on Sunday when the NNPCL announced that it bought petrol from the Dangote Refinery at over N898 per litre.

The Gantry price per ton at the refinery was quoted to be $736 which is equivalent of $0.55 per litre. At the official exchange rate of N1,637.59 to one dollar, the NNPCL said the cost of one litre of petrol stands at N898.78.

For each litre of petrol, NNPCL said apart from landing cost from refineries, there are statutory and regulatory charges suppliers must pay. Those charges include NMDPRA fee, N8.99; inspection fee, N0.97; distribution cost (Lagos) N15.00; and profit margin, N26.48. They must be added to the product’s landing cost to determine the pump price of petrol.

With all charges computed, the pump price of petrol in Lagos is estimated to be N950.22 per litre.

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