Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has sparked debate by claiming Nigerians are “enjoying” petrol prices, after comparing the cost of fuel in Nigeria with that of the United Kingdom, where petrol costs over ₦3,000 per litre. Speaking at the “Operation Rescue Benin-Asaba Road” event on Thursday, September 24, 2026, Okpebholo said he visited a filling station in London the previous week to compare prices. However, experts and data show that pump prices alone do not reflect affordability, as wages, minimum income, and living costs differ significantly between the two countries.
Governor’s London Comparison
Okpebholo recounted his experience: “When we complained about the 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.” After converting the UK price to naira, he said it came to “₦3,000-something” per litre. “We are doing very well here,” he added, while praising President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies.
His comments come amid rising petrol prices in Nigeria, which have increased in recent weeks due to higher global crude oil prices. On September 21, Reuters reported that petrol was selling for about ₦1,400 per litre in Lagos and Abuja, with some filling stations in northern Nigeria charging as much as ₦1,500.
Current Petrol Prices in Nigeria and the UK
NNPC Limited's latest pump-price list puts petrol at ₦1,385 per litre in Lagos and ₦1,430 in Abuja, with prices varying across the country. The list ranges from ₦1,385 in Lagos to ₦1,456 in Yobe. In the UK, a fuel-price index based on thousands of filling stations recorded an average petrol price of about 173.7 pence (£1.737) per litre on September 24, with individual stations charging between 158.9p and 230p per litre.
This data supports Okpebholo's broad point that petrol costs more per litre in Britain in nominal naira terms, although the exact naira equivalent depends on the exchange rate used and the particular London station he visited. However, a direct comparison of pump prices does not, by itself, show how affordable petrol is to people in either country.
Why Pump Price Comparison Is Incomplete
The biggest problem with comparing only the numbers on the fuel pump is that people do not buy petrol with naira or pounds alone; they buy it with their income. Nigeria's national minimum wage is ₦70,000 per month under the 2024 minimum-wage law. In the UK, workers aged 21 and above are entitled to a minimum hourly rate of £12.71 from April 2026. At 40 hours a week, that works out to roughly £2,200 a month before tax, although actual take-home pay depends on tax, working hours and other deductions.
Now, a Nigerian worker earning the national minimum wage would need to spend roughly 2% of a ₦70,000 monthly wage to buy one litre of petrol at ₦1,400. A UK worker earning the minimum hourly rate would spend a much smaller fraction of a month's gross minimum-wage earnings on one litre at about £1.68. This does not mean every British worker has more disposable income than every Nigerian worker. The minimum wage is only a legal wage floor, and actual earnings, taxes, housing costs and household circumstances vary widely. But it illustrates why converting a British fuel price into naira does not tell the whole story.
Broader Costs and Impact
There are also differences in the wider cost of owning and using a car. UK motorists pay fuel duty and VAT as part of the pump price; the standard fuel-duty rate for petrol is currently 52.95 pence per litre, while most fuel also attracts 20% VAT. In Nigeria, meanwhile, petrol costs feed directly into transportation and the movement of goods. When fuel becomes more expensive, commercial drivers can increase fares, while businesses that rely on vehicles and generators can face higher operating costs. Those increases can eventually show up in the prices Nigerians pay for food and other necessities.
Reuters reported in September that the recent increase in Nigerian petrol prices had renewed cost-of-living pressure, with labour leaders calling for wage support as households struggle with higher expenses. So, while petrol may cost more per litre at a British filling station, the price at the pump alone cannot tell Nigerians whether fuel is more or less affordable in Britain. To understand affordability, one must ask more useful questions: How much does a litre cost compared with the average worker's income? How much fuel does that worker need each month? What does transportation cost? And how much money remains after paying for rent, food, electricity and other essentials?
