There are strong indications that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has directed its retail outlets to raise the pump price of petrol to N855 per litre.
Nigerians woke up on Tuesday to find a change in pump prices, rising from around N600 to N855 per litre.
Sources informed our correspondent that there was a directive for retail outlets to increase petrol prices.
The directive announced that the NNPC Retail Management had approved an upward review of PMS pump prices.
This development comes barely two days after the company admitted to challenges in importing fuel due to an $8 billion debt.
The directive asking NNPC retail stations to increase prices was forwarded to Soneye by our correspondent, who inquired if the statement was from The PUNCH.
“Is this a statement from PUNCH?” he asked.
When our correspondent clarified via WhatsApp that the statement had been circulating and reports from NNPC filling stations indicated a rise in fuel prices, Soneye replied:
“Thank you for reaching out. I have no comment on the matter at this time. If there are any updates, I will inform you.”
Our correspondent gathered from depot operators that N250 had been added to the pump price.
It was also observed that some major marketers had raised their pump prices to N860 per litre.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the pump price of petrol could approach N1,000 in a few days.