Cooking gas hits N1, 700/kg, marketers warn of looming revolt

By  Sebastine Obasi

The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, NALPGAM, has raised alarm over the soaring cost of cooking gas in the country, warning that the continuous increase in price could spark public outrage against operators of gas filling stations.

The association disclosed that cooking gas now sells between N1, 500 and N1, 700  per kilogram, while marketers pay between N25.2 million and N26.2 million for a 20-metric-tonne truck of liquefied petroleum gas, depending on location.

Speaking on the development, NALPGAM National President, Mr. Edu Inyang, appealed to the Federal Government to urgently intervene and stabilise the supply and pricing of the product to prevent further hardship on Nigerians.

According to him, the current situation has placed millions of households, food vendors, small businesses and low-income earners under severe pressure, as many Nigerians can no longer afford cooking gas for daily use.

“It is sad and rather very pathetic to inform the general public that Nigerians have woken up to buy cooking gas, which should be a social item, at a prohibitive cost of over N1,500 per kilogram. We feel that if the situation is not immediately checked, citizens may rise against owners of gas filling stations”, Inyang said.

He attributed the rising cost of LPG to persistent supply shortages, high depot prices, logistics bottlenecks and escalating operational costs faced by marketers nationwide.

Inyang warned that the development was undermining years of progress recorded in Nigeria’s clean energy drive, noting that many households were already reverting to firewood and charcoal due to the high cost of cooking gas.

According to him, the trend poses serious risks to public health, environmental sustainability and the country’s clean energy targets.

He further warned that failure to urgently address the crisis could worsen food inflation, lead to job losses, cripple small LPG retail businesses and reduce investor confidence in the sector.

NALPGAM therefore called on the Federal Government, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), NNPC Ltd., domestic producers and other stakeholders in the LPG value chain to take immediate and coordinated action to stabilise the market.

The association recommended increased domestic supply allocation, transparent product distribution, removal of bottlenecks in importation and distribution, as well as strategic interventions to make cooking gas more affordable and accessible to Nigerians.

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المصدر: Vanguard (NG)