Motorists lament non-access to petrol discount at NNPC filling stations

Many motorists say they are yet to get the discount in pump price of petrol at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited filling stations.

The motorists attributed the reason to not having the NNPC Limited mobile application, saying the oil company told them that the discounted fuel could only be accessed through the app.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, had announced the discount on petrol prices and subsidy-related products.

According to Oyedele, the pump price of petrol will sell for N1,350, the landing cost at all NNPC filling stations across Nigeria.

The discount, according to the minister which will be for a month, is aimed at giving Nigerians some measure of relief.

However, it was gathered that petrol was being sold at N1,405 per litre to customers paying directly at the pumps, while those using the company’s mobile application paid N1,339 per litre on Sunday, October 11, 2026.

A motorist in Abuja, Babatunde Atoye, said the discount was not automatically available to customers at filling stations.

Atoye said motorists had to access the discount through the company’s mobile application.

A petrol attendant, who pleaded anonymity, said motorists and consumers could only make payment via the application.

She added that it was not yet directed at motorists and consumers at the NNPC through pump stations.

Another motorist, Abdulrahim Malik, said customers could only benefit from the N66-per-litre discount by downloading the application.

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Malik said: “How do people who do not have access to Android phones benefit from the discount?

“Some people cannot read or write, let alone access Android phones. How can they use the digital application.”

An economist, Dr Aliyu Illias, said Nigeria had yet to fully harness the potential of its petroleum sector since independence.

Illias said the country had made only average progress in developing its oil and gas industry despite having explored the resource for about six decades.

He said that Nigeria had failed to establish sufficient refineries, both in the public and private sectors to maximise the value of its crude oil resources.

According to him, the country has also not adequately develop other products and by-products from petroleum beyond petrol, diesel and related fuels.

Illias said Nigeria should have developed more refineries across its states to meet domestic demands and generate revenue through the export of refined petroleum products.