Tibor Nagy, a former U.S. ambassador, has lamented soaring pump prices in Nigeria, berating President Bola Tinubu’s government for incompetence and a lack of plans for petrol reserves.

Mr Nagy reacted to a report about Nigeria’s pump prices soaring to an all-time high amid lingering hostilities between the U.S., Israel and Iran.

“It’s incredible that Nigeria’s petrol prices—even with new refineries—have risen more than any other African country’s despite its huge oil holdings,” Mr Nagy said on Monday.

The former American ambassador to Guinea and Ethiopia berated Mr Tinubu’s government for failing to plan for petrol reserves. 

“Nigerian govt can’t seem to manage anything—it never planned for a petrol reserve. Pathetic!” Mr Nagy claimed. 

Reacting to Mr Nagy’s criticism of Mr Tinubu’s government, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said, “Who the hell is Tibor Nagy? Sounds like an uneducated interloper in Nigeria’s affairs. 

“He should be more concerned about how Trump’s bombing war in Iran has increased gasoline and diesel Prices in the US by almost 50 per cent and caused scarcity in Asia and Africa. Nigeria has enough petrol and diesel, though costing much higher pre-Trump’s war.”

Since the start of the U.S.-Israeli attacks against Iran on February 28, the petrol pump price in Nigeria has surged from N850 to above N1,000.