ABUJA — A wave of public frustration and severe economic strain has swept across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as residents, commercial drivers, and small business owners grapple with a fresh surge in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) pump prices.
The operational pinch follows the latest upward adjustment of fuel gantry prices to ₦1,350 per litre, which quickly trickled down to retail stations across the nation’s capital. In major retail outlets across Abuja—including MRS, NIPCO, and Mobil stations—pump prices have spiked to between ₦1,395 and ₦1,450 per litre, with independent marketers in satellite towns pushing rates even higher.
The immediate consequence has been a sharp increase in intra-city transportation fares. Commuters traveling into the central business district from outlying residential hubs like Kubwa, Lugbe, Nyanya, and Masaka report paying an additional ₦200 to ₦300 per trip. Commercial tricycle and bus operators explained that while they sympathize with passengers, the combined costs of fuelling vehicles and procuring expensive spare parts leave them with little choice but to pass on the operational burden.
For civil servants, informal traders, and private sector workers, the timing of the hike is particularly devastating as it coincides with school fee payments and rising food inflation. Household budgets are stretching to absolute breaking points, with many office workers now resorting to carpooling or reducing weekly movements strictly to essential work routines.
Economists and labor observers warn that unless structural interventions or targeted transport palliatives are deployed to cushion distribution costs, the sustained rise in fuel prices will continue to drive up food prices and erode the living standards of average Nigerians across the territory.
