“We raised fuel price to 200 Naira and diesel to 800 Naira to reduce the number of traffic and accidents in Nigeria,” a July 2022 Facebook post quotes Nigerian information minister Lai Mohammed as saying.
The quote also appears in posts on other Facebook pages, such as here and here.
Petrol is now being sold above Nigeria’s official N165-per-litre peg, after marketers hiked the price due to scarcity.
The price of diesel has also increased. Both price rises are a result of the global energy crisis and the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Nigeria imports refined petroleum products, making it vulnerable to external shocks.
But did Mohammed really say fuel prices were increased to reduce traffic and accidents?
No evidence of statement
The post doesn’t say where and when Mohammed made the statement. And it hasn’t been reported by any credible news outlet.
The minister’s spokesperson, Segun Adeyemi, told our fact-checking colleagues at Dubawa that Mohammed had not made such a statement.
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