- Dangote reduces ex-depot fuel price by N65 to N825
- …to sell at MRS: N860 per litre in Lagos, N870 in S’West, N880 in North, N890 in S’South, S’East
The Federal Government has curtailed smuggling of 6.14 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) valued at N5.6 trillion in the last eight months following the launch of Operation Whirlwind.
Between January and February this year, 263, 970 litres of petrol was seized at the neighbouring countries’ borders as 53,000 litres were impounded in Kwara State with a duty paid of N53 million; 199,495 litres at NigeriaCameroon border axis of Adamawa State and 10,970 litres stocked in plastic sacks concealed in wooden boats at Lagos waterways in Badagry.
It was revealed that most of the fuel is being smuggled to Benin Republic, Chad and Cameroon through creeks and porous borders through Ogun, Kwara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kano, Borno, Adamawa and Crossriver states.
Between January and February only 316,900 tonnes were ferried to the country as marketers expect to take delivery of 265,000 tonnes (265 million litres) in January and 51,900 tonnes (51.9 million litres) in February 2025.
According to Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)’s shipping data, Sabaek with 75,000 tonnes and Mosunmola, 37,500 tonnes berthed with the product at Kirikiri Lighter Terminal (KLT) Phase 3 in February.
Others are Central with 28,000 tonnes which berthed at Bulk Oil Jetty (BOJ), Apapa and Hafnia Egret, 26,500 tonnes. Last year, more than 5.71 billion litres of PMS were lost to smugglers through Bakasi and Badagry creeks as well as land bothers in about eight states.
The Comptroller General of NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, had described fuel smuggling as a direct threat to Nigeria’s economic stability and national security, saying that a total seizure of 1.72 million liters of petroleum products were impounded in 2024.
He noted that despite the removal of fuel subsidies, the country continues to witness the exploitation of price disparities between Nigeria and neighbouring countries.
He explained: “This illegal trade not only undermines government policies but also affects ordinary Nigerians by inflating fuel costs and creating artificial scarcity.”
Recall that data by Chapel Hill Denham estimated that 15.64 million litres of petrol were smuggled out of Nigeria daily as the petroleum products retail on average 3.7 times cheaper than those of her neighbours daily petrol supply stands at 68 million litres.
Findings revealed that daily consumption of PMS slumped by 24 per cent from 66 million litres to 50 million litres between May 2024 and January 2025.
