A recent sharp increase in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), or cooking gas, is creating financial difficulties for many Nigerians.
The price hike is directly tied to the recent strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), according to Bayo Ojulari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The strike was suspended following the federal government’s intervention, but it had already caused delays in movement and loading.
This disruption, Ojulari explained, led to an artificial price increase in the market.
Speaking to state house journalists late Sunday after visiting President Bola Tinubu, Ojulari clarified that some retailers and marketers exploited the situation by raising the prices of their existing stock.
“So the increase you saw was relatively artificial because for the period of the strike, what that meant was movements and loading were delayed by about two, three days,” he said.
“My expectation is that now that things are back to normal, prices should return back to what they were before the strike.”
Persecondnews reports that the price hike has been observed in major cities across the country, including Lagos and Abuja.
In Lagos, the price of a 12.5kg cylinder of LPG rose to N26,000 (N2,080 per kg) at some retail outlets around Amuwo Odofin, while others sold it for N27,000 (N2,200 per kg) at the Iyana-Ipaja axis.
In Abuja, the price of a 12.5kg cylinder was N20,000 (N1,600 per kg) around Dutse axis, representing a 48.57% increase from the previous rate of N17,500.
This price surge has left many households struggling to cope with the increased cost of cooking gas.
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