The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the latest increase in petrol prices, describing the development as “avoidable and unacceptable” and calling on the Federal Government to ensure that more Nigerian crude is supplied to domestic refineries.
The labour union's position followed another increase in the petrol gantry price by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which has further raised concerns over the cost of transportation, food and other essential goods across the country.
The acting General Secretary of the NLC, Benson Upah, said the latest increase would worsen the economic pressure on workers and low-income Nigerians who are already struggling with high living costs.
Upah questioned why Nigeria was not supplying more locally produced crude to the Dangote refinery, arguing that greater access to domestic crude could help strengthen local refining and reduce pressure on petrol prices.
“The latest increase is avoidable and unacceptable in light of falling prices in the international market and our local capacity to sell more crude oil to Dangote. Why are we not doing so?” he asked.
The Dangote refinery raised its petrol gantry price by ₦65 per litre on Saturday, moving it from ₦1,200 to ₦1,265 per litre. The adjustment came only three days after the refinery had increased the price from ₦1,185 to ₦1,200.
The refinery had earlier raised its gantry price from ₦1,165 to ₦1,185 on August 21. The three increases have therefore added ₦100 per litre to the refinery's petrol price within eight days, representing an increase of about 8.6 per cent.
The higher wholesale price has started to affect retail petrol prices in different parts of the country. Reports indicate that petrol is selling for around ₦1,310 per litre in some parts of Lagos and Ogun, while prices in some northern locations have risen to ₦1,350 or more. Some markets are reportedly approaching ₦1,400 per litre.
The development has renewed debate over Nigeria's ability to translate its crude oil production and growing domestic refining capacity into more affordable petroleum products.
The Dangote refinery, which has a processing capacity of about 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was expected to reduce Nigeria's reliance on imported refined petroleum products. However, the availability and commercial supply of Nigerian crude to the refinery has remained a major issue.
Data cited in recent reports showed that producers offered 68.1 million barrels of crude to the Dangote refinery during the second quarter of 2026, compared with the refinery's stated requirement of 63 million barrels. The refinery accepted 52.6 million barrels.
The figures have prompted renewed questions about the domestic crude supply system, including the pricing of crude, commercial agreements, crude quality and logistics.
Nigeria's crude production has also improved, averaging about 1.72 million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 1.55 million barrels per day in the first quarter.
For the NLC, the combination of rising crude production and increased domestic refining capacity should eventually translate into greater energy security and relief for consumers.
The labour union's position comes amid wider criticism of rising petrol prices. Civil society groups have also called for stronger regulatory oversight of the downstream petroleum sector, while independent marketers have attributed recent pump-price increases to repeated adjustments by the Dangote refinery.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has separately urged the Federal Government to ensure that the 450,000 barrels of crude allocated daily for domestic consumption are supplied to local refineries, arguing that increased domestic refining could help reduce petrol prices.
The latest petrol price increase is therefore likely to keep pressure on the Federal Government and petroleum industry regulators as Nigerians continue to contend with elevated transportation and living costs.
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