Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has raised concerns over the soaring cost of cooking gas across the country, warning that continued increases in prices could trigger public anger against operators of gas filling stations.
The association disclosed that cooking gas currently sells between N1,500 and N1,700 per kilogram, while marketers now 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, Edu Inyang, appealed to the federal government to urgently intervene in order to stabilise supply and pricing of the product.
According to him, the persistent rise in prices has placed millions of households, food vendors, small businesses and low-income earners under severe economic pressure, with many Nigerians now struggling to 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,” Inyang said.
“We feel that if the situation is not immediately checked, citizens may rise against owners of gas filling stations.”
Inyang attributed the rising cost of LPG to supply shortages, high depot prices, logistics bottlenecks and increasing operational costs faced by marketers nationwide.
He warned that the development threatens years of progress made in Nigeria’s clean energy transition, as many households are already returning to the use of firewood and charcoal due to the rising cost of cooking gas.
According to him, the trend poses serious risks to public health, environmental sustainability and Nigeria’s clean energy targets.
The NALPGAM president further cautioned that if urgent steps are not taken, the crisis could worsen food inflation, lead to job losses, cripple small LPG retail businesses and weaken investor confidence in the sector.
The association therefore called on the Federal Government, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), NNPC Limited, domestic producers and other stakeholders in the LPG value chain to take immediate and coordinated action to stabilise the market.
NALPGAM also recommended increased domestic supply allocation, transparent product distribution, removal of bottlenecks in importation and distribution, as well as strategic interventions aimed at making cooking gas more affordable and accessible to Nigerians.
