- N195 increase in One Week
BY BONNY AMADI WITH AGENCY REPORTS
Hardship and challenge of sustaining business entrepreneurship triggered protest by petroleum Products marketers over what they termed as yet another frustrating increase in the price of Diesel (AGO), threatening the sustainability of their enterprise.
Expectedly, angry scenes erupted at the Port Harcourt Refinery when aggrieved petroleum marketers launched a protest against the latest increase in diesel (AGO) prices, describing it as “economic wickedness” and “sabotage of the Nigerian people.”
The protest, which was captured in a viral video posted on X by user @chude, showed dozens of marketers lamenting the sudden jump in diesel prices from N935 to N980, and now a staggering N1,130 per litre, a N195 hike within one week.
“We are marketers, we have been loading from 935 naira, from there they add N45, just only three days from today (three days ago). Now, adding that N45, we still agreed with them to load,” one visibly frustrated protester said in the video.
“Check our trucks, for more than three weeks now, they did not allow us to load. Another one now is they come and add N150 to the price,” he added.
The protest appears to target both Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Limited) and Oando, whom the marketers accuse of deliberately frustrating the distribution process and inflating prices after payment.
The marketers, therefore, demanded the immediate reversal of the diesel price.
Placards held by the protesters bore bold demands and accusations such as: “NNPCL/OANDO should load out all our outstanding AGO tickets at N980 that had been paid for.”
As of press time, the NNPCL and Oando have not issued any official response. The price shot up from N935 to N980, then N1,130—a whopping N195 per litre increase.
Meanwhile, in May, NNPCL announced the shutdown of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Rivers State, citing a month-long maintenance exercise.
According to the NNPCL, the shutdown was part of a planned maintenance schedule aimed at ensuring the refinery’s optimal performance.
According to Olufemi Soneye, the NNPCL’s immediate past Chief Corporate Communications Officer, the shutdown was scheduled to commence on Saturday, May 24.
“NNPC Ltd wishes to inform the general public that the Port Harcourt Refining Company will undergo a planned maintenance shutdown.
“This scheduled maintenance and sustainability assessment will commence on May 24, 2025,” he said.
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