The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has raised the alarm over erratic supply and rising cooking gas prices, warning that the development could trigger scarcity and worsen hardship for Nigerians.
Naijaonpoint reports that the association said Liquefied Petroleum Gas was now selling for over ₦1,500 per kilogramme in many locations.
It added that marketers currently pay between ₦25.2m and ₦26.2m for 20 metric tonnes of the product, depending on location.
Checks showed that the product, which recently sold for less than ₦1,000 per kilogramme, had risen to about ₦1,500 or more, while some dealers sell between ₦1,600 and ₦2,000.
In a statement jointly signed by the National President of NALPGAM, Edu Inyang, and the Executive Secretary, Bassey Essien, the association described the situation as “sad and rather very pathetic.”
The statement reads, “The citizens of Nigeria have woken up to buy cooking gas, which should be a social item, at a prohibitive cost of over ₦1,500 per kg, while the marketers are made to pay as much as ₦25,200,000 or, depending on the location, ₦26,200,000 for 20 metric tonnes of cooking gas.
“We feel that if the situation is not immediately checked, the citizens may rise against the owners of gas filling stations.”
The marketers said the development had brought hardship to millions of households, small businesses, food vendors and low-income families that depend on LPG for cooking and livelihood.
According to the association, members across the country are struggling to source LPG due to “persistent supply shortages, high depot prices, logistics bottlenecks and uncontrollable rising operational costs.”
“We observe that where product is available, it is sold at rates far beyond the reach of average Nigerians,” the group added.
NALPGAM warned that the crisis was undermining years of progress made through government policies aimed at promoting LPG use and clean cooking energy.
It said many households that had adopted cooking gas were now struggling to refill their cylinders.
“While millions of Nigerians have embraced cooking gas as a result of the national clean energy transition agenda, it is sad to state that those gains are at risk as households are struggling to refill cylinders, small businesses are folding under rising energy costs, while many families are reverting to firewood and charcoal despite the serious implications for public health, environmental degradation, and deforestation,” the statement said.
The association warned that failure to address the crisis could worsen food inflation, force small LPG retail businesses to collapse, trigger job losses, weaken investor confidence and set back Nigeria’s clean energy commitments.
It called on the Federal Government, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, domestic producers, terminal operators and international suppliers to take urgent steps to stabilise the market.
NALPGAM recommended increased domestic LPG allocation, transparent distribution of available supply, reduction of importation and distribution bottlenecks, intervention to stabilise retail prices, and investment in storage and distribution infrastructure.
The statement added, “We cannot stand by and watch millions of Nigerian families suffer in silence while access to clean cooking energy becomes increasingly difficult and unaffordable.
“For years, the government and industry operators have worked to move Nigerians away from unsafe fuels. Those gains are now under serious threat.
“Households cannot refill cylinders, small businesses are struggling to survive, and vulnerable households are returning to firewood and charcoal with dire health and environmental consequences.
“We therefore make a passionate and patriotic appeal to the Federal Government for urgent intervention to stabilise supply and pricing. NALPGAM is ready to collaborate to have lasting solutions, but decisive action is needed now.”
