Federal lawmaker Afam Victor Ogene has highlighted the pressure facing Nigerian workers by comparing the country’s petrol prices and minimum wage with those of Iran, Libya and Saudi Arabia.
Ogene, the representative of Ogbaru Federal Constituency in Anambra State, presented figures showing a major difference in the amount workers can spend on petrol in the four oil producing countries.
The comparison puts petrol at roughly ₦38 a litre in Iran, ₦32 in Libya and ₦823 in Saudi Arabia. Nigerian petrol was put at between ₦1,300 and ₦1,500 per litre.
On wages, the figures put monthly minimum pay at approximately ₦165,000 in Iran, ₦210,000 in Libya and ₦1.4 million in Saudi Arabia. Nigeria’s national minimum wage was listed at ₦70,000.
The resulting calculation gives Iran’s minimum wage worker the ability to purchase roughly 4,342 litres of petrol at the stated price. Libya’s figure rises to about 6,562 litres.
The same calculation produces a much smaller fuel buying capacity for a Nigerian worker earning ₦70,000.
The figures have attracted attention because all four countries are major oil producing states, yet their domestic fuel prices differ sharply.
Global fuel data published in September also placed Libya and Iran at the bottom of the international petrol price table, while Saudi Arabia remained substantially cheaper than Nigeria.
Nigeria’s higher petrol prices followed the removal of the fuel subsidy in 2023. President Tinubu announced the policy at his inauguration and later said the decision was aimed at addressing the financial burden created by the subsidy system.
The government later approved a ₦70,000 national minimum wage, with the State House saying the new wage was intended to provide higher pay for the lowest earning workers.
Petrol prices have continued to move with changes in crude oil prices and other market factors. Reuters reported that Nigerian petrol prices reached about ₦1,400 per litre in Lagos and Abuja and as high as ₦1,500 in some northern locations in September 2026.
The comparison does not mean that the purchasing power calculations are fixed, because the naira value of foreign wages and petrol prices changes with exchange rates.
It nevertheless highlights the gap between wages and fuel costs and puts Nigeria’s current cost of transport and household spending under renewed scrutiny.
