This is just beginning, fuel prices will keep rising, Presidential candidate

A presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has asked Nigerians to brace themselves for even higher fuel prices, stating that the current hike is just the beginning.

Nigerians are currently paying through their noses for fuel after scarcity hit Africa's largest oil producer, forcing the commodity’s prices to go through the roof.

The scarcity, caused by the supply shortage resulting from the inability of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to meet its debt obligations to international petroleum marketers, has lingered for weeks.

In response, the NNPCL jacked up the pump price of fuel last week from ₦650 to nearly ₦900 with the hope of increasing supply and consequently fading out the long queues at filling stations nationwide.

However, the move received strong resistance from many Nigerians, especially the opposition parties and labour unions who lampooned President Bola Tinubu's administration's decision to end the fuel subsidy regime.

President Bola Tinubu [Presidency] Pulse Nigeria

Presidential candidate predicts higher fuel prices.

Meanwhile, Adebayo, who ran for the president on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), said the hike in fuel prices won't be reversed anytime soon.

He stressed that it's inevitable that the price of the commodity will continue to rise, urging Nigerians not to lament as the government is committed to allowing market forces to dictate the prices.

According to him, President Tinubu is currently using the NNPCL to artificially lower the prices, noting that the approach is unsustainable due to the financial troubles and mounting debt the national oil company is enmeshed in.

Adebayo recalled his prediction of a hike in oil prices following the removal of the subsidy, restating that the policy shift was ill-thought-out and poorly executed.

“One of the greatest mistakes you could make is to adopt a policy of removing the subsidy,” he remarked.