Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has urged Nigerians to stop complaining about the price of petrol, claiming that a litre of the product costs more than ₦3,000 in the United Kingdom and that Nigerians are “doing very well” with the current pump price in the country. The governor made the remark on Thursday while speaking at the “Operation Rescue Benin-Asaba Road” event in Edo State, according to reports by Punch and other media outlets.
Okpebholo said he visited London the previous week and decided to compare the price of petrol in the United Kingdom with what motorists pay in Nigeria. “When we complained about cost of petrol, I was in London last week. I told my friend, ‘Let’s go and buy fuel just to know the cost of fuel between Nigeria and England,’” he said. “Let me tell you, after conversion, it’s about 3,000-something for one litre of fuel.” He said the comparison showed that Nigerians were getting petrol at a lower price. “We are doing very well here. The President is stabilising the economy. He’s an economist.”
The governor’s comparison is broadly accurate in nominal terms. Petrol in the United Kingdom was selling at an average of about 172.85 pence per litre as of September 22, 2026, according to RAC Fuel Watch data. At an exchange rate of roughly ₦1,750 to ₦1,800 to the pound, that equates to more than ₦3,000 per litre. In Nigeria, petrol prices ranged from about ₦1,300 to ₦1,450 per litre at many filling stations across the country, with some locations charging higher. Dangote Petroleum Refinery had earlier reduced its gantry price from ₦1,350 to ₦1,325 per litre as international crude prices eased slightly.
However, critics argued that the comparison does not take into account differences in wages and purchasing power between the two countries. Nigeria’s national minimum wage is ₦70,000 per month, meaning a worker earning the minimum wage could purchase about 50 litres of petrol at ₦1,400 per litre with an entire month’s salary. In the United Kingdom, the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and above is £12.71 per hour from April 2026, and a full-time worker earning around £2,000 monthly could afford more than 1,100 litres of petrol at £1.74 per litre before other expenses. The comparison has therefore prompted debate over whether petrol prices should be assessed by their absolute value or by how affordable they are relative to local incomes and living costs.
Okpebholo’s remarks have drawn sharp criticism from labour and opposition figures. Nigeria Labour Congress President Joe Ajaero has repeatedly said the removal of petrol subsidy has inflicted and deepened poverty among the populace, calling for additional wage support and more naira-denominated crude to the Dangote refinery to help curb further price rises. The NLC has demanded a new minimum wage of ₦500,000 and a reduction of petrol price to ₦500 per litre, warning that the prevailing hardship was creating palpable tension among workers. Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo, a former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, acknowledged at the National Pre-Retirement Summit in Abuja on Wednesday that the current N70,000 minimum wage was inadequate to withstand the economic pressures confronting Nigerian workers and urged the Federal Government to meet organised labour halfway in ongoing discussions on wages.
The context of the governor’s remarks is a dramatic escalation in petrol prices since the removal of fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023. Petrol prices have climbed from below ₦200 per litre before the subsidy removal to approximately ₦1,430 per litre in major urban centres, with even higher prices reported in some less accessible locations. Ten litres of petrol at ₦1,430 costs ₦14,300, more than one-fifth of an entire month’s minimum wage. Data analysed by The Guardian showed that a single worker in any of Nigeria’s urban centres would need to earn a minimum of ₦372,300 monthly to reasonably survive, an amount ₦302,300 above the current national minimum wage. The rise in fuel prices has been driven by tensions in the Middle East that have pushed global crude oil prices above $100 per barrel, with Brent crude trading at about $100.40 per barrel at the latest market update. The surge has occurred even as the Dangote refinery, Africa’s largest, operates at full tilt of 700,000 barrels per day, highlighting the limits of domestic refining in shielding consumers from international oil market shocks.
Okpebholo also used the occasion to defend the economic reforms being implemented by the Federal Government, likening them to an aircraft taking off. “When a plane is taking off, do you see them serving food? Do you see air hostesses serving food in the plane? They will never give you food until that seatbelt is released. That means on a cruising level. That is when they will start serving food,” he said. “I want to let you know, very soon Nigeria will be on the cruising level.” He pointed to road construction across the country as evidence of ongoing development under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying, “Look at the kind of roads that are being constructed today—concrete pavement all over Nigeria.” The event, tagged “Operation Rescue Benin-Asaba Road,” was held in connection with efforts to address the condition of the major highway linking Edo and Delta states.
The governor also endorsed President Tinubu’s re-election bid, saying those planning to challenge the President in 2027 should reconsider their plans. “Is Aso Rock vacant? Is Aso Rock vacant? So Aso Rock is not vacant,” Okpebholo said. He added, “I agree with the Oba of Benin that said, ‘You don’t change a working President.’” He said Edo State and the country were in “safe hands” and that the economic reforms would eventually place Nigeria on a “cruising level.” The remarks align with Okpebholo’s consistent support for the Tinubu administration’s economic policies. In April 2026, he said the removal of fuel subsidy had freed up resources now being invested in developmental projects nationwide, describing it as a decision avoided by previous administrations. “That is the money we are using to work all over Nigeria today,” he said at the time.
The political dimension of the dispute is impossible to ignore. The 2027 general elections are less than four months away, with the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, and the governorship and state assembly elections for February 6. The cost of living and the price of petrol have become central issues in the campaign, with opposition candidates including Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress and Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress criticising the Tinubu administration’s economic policies and proposing alternative approaches. Keyamo’s public acknowledgment that the minimum wage is inadequate represents a significant moment in the debate, as it places a senior official of the ruling administration on record agreeing with labour’s central premise. Okpebholo’s decision to frame the petrol price debate as a matter of Nigerians “enjoying” current prices is likely to deepen the political divide over the government’s economic record.
For the millions of Nigerian workers and families confronting the daily reality of high transport costs, rising food prices and declining purchasing power, the debate over whether petrol is cheaper in Nigeria than in the United Kingdom is likely to ring hollow. The question that matters to them is not how Nigerian prices compare with British prices, but whether their wages can cover the cost of getting to work, feeding their families and meeting their other basic needs. As Ajaero put it, workers and pensioners cannot be expected to survive on wages that are wiped out by the rising cost of the very fuel their country produces. The coming months will determine whether the government’s reforms deliver the “cruising level” that Okpebholo has promised, or whether the hardship continues to deepen as the election approaches.
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