Claim: Nigeria’s fuel is the cheapest in the world
On July 24, 2023, Eniola Badmus, an actor and avid supporter of the Tinubu campaign said: “Despite the recent petrol subsidy removal, the price of fuel in Nigeria is the cheapest in the world”. She made the claim while speaking as a guest on an Instagram live hosted by Daddy Freeze, a media personality.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while delivering his inaugural speech as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, said “The petrol subsidy regime is over”.
Shortly after the pronouncement, the price of petrol skyrocketed from N190 per liter to over N500 per liter. On Tuesday, July 18, 2023, the Federal Government-owned NNPC Limited raised its Fuel Price in Nigeria to N617 per liter from N537 in Abuja.
Verification
According to Globalpetrolprices, a global tracker of the retail prices of motor fuel, electricity, and natural gas in over 150 countries, Venezuela is the world’s cheapest country to buy petrol, where it costs just N3.1274 per litre. This means that petrol is sold for less than N617 in 20 other countries.
The countries include; Iran, Libya, Algeria, Kuwait, Angola, Egypt, Turkmenistan, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Bolivia, Iraq, Qatar, Azerbaijan, Russia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan, and Afghanistan. It is noticeable that oil-rich Middle Eastern countries are among the cheapest places in the world to buy petrol.
It should be noted that 19 of the 23 countries sell petrol for less than N568 per liter, which is considered the cheapest in Nigeria today.
This cheap fuel price can be attributed to the fact that Venezuela is a home to some of the biggest oil reserves in the world. However, it is also a country where income is very low too.
Verdict: FALSE
The claim that Nigeria’s petrol is the cheapest in the world is false. Currently, 19 countries of the world sell petrol below the N568 pump price in Nigeria.