THE price of a litre of petrol, also known as fuel, was highest in Jigawa, Lagos and Sokoto states in July, according to the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The report, ‘Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) Price Watch,’ released on Thursday, August 21, showed fuel price averaged N1,024.99/litre in July from N1,037.66 in June.
It sold the highest in Jigawa state at an average retail price of N1107.52 per litre in July.
In Lagos, it sold at N1100.29, despite the state warehousing most of the oil depots in the country, the major seaport and the Dangote Refinery.
Analysts believe a litre of fuel would have been cheaper in Lagos since logistics costs would have reduced; however, the NBS report proved the contrary.
In Sokoto state, far northwest of the country, fuel averaged N1100.00 per litre in the review month.
On the flip side, Zamfara, Yobe, and Kogi states had the lowest average retail prices for fuel per litre at N884.63, N950.60, and N986.67, respectively.
This demonstrates the continued volatility in fuel prices across the country, despite recent efforts to stabilise the downstream petroleum sector, NBS stated.
On a year-on-year basis, the average price of fuel per litre rose sharply from N770.54 in July 2024 to N1024.99 in July 2025, representing a N254.45 increase.
The report added that the North-West zone had the highest average retail price of N1035.85, while the North East zone had the lowest price of N1017.65.
The ICIR can report that the average price of a litre of fuel surged from N770.54 in July 2024 to N1024.99 in July 2025 despite the decline in the average price of crude in the international market from $85.15 per barrel in July 2024 to $71.04 per barrel in July 2025.
The lingering war between Ukraine and Russia and the unquenched tension in the Middle East have continued to cause a steep decline in crude oil prices in the International market.
This was expected to have reflected in a downward slope of the average price of fuel but the NBS report indicated otherwise.
In this report, The ICIR analysed that crude oil prices in the international market determine the up or down movement in the price of a litre of refined petroleum products, bearing in mind that Nigeria has liberalised its downstream oil sector.
Meanwhile, since President Bola Tinubu came into office on May 29, 2023, the price of a litre of fuel has risen from about N190 per litre to over N1000 per litre.
His removal of fuel subsidy spiked inflation pressure, caused the prices of all goods and services to skyrocket and has left Nigerians in an untold hardship.