Monday, May 25, 2026 - The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers has raised the alarm over the erratic supply and rising cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, otherwise known as cooking gas, warning that the situation could trigger scarcity and worsen hardship for millions of Nigerians.
The association said cooking gas is now selling for over
N1,500 per kilogramme, while marketers currently pay between N25.2m and N26.2m
for 20 metric tonnes of the product, depending on location. The product is sold
at between N1,600 and N2,000 by many other dealers.
Checks by our correspondent on Sunday confirmed that the
essential commodity jumped from less than N1,000/kg recently to around N1,500
or more, depending on the location.
In a statement jointly signed by the National President of
NALPGAM, Edu Inyang, and the Executive Secretary, Mr Bassey Essien, the
association described the development as “sad and rather very pathetic”.
“The citizens of Nigeria have woken up to buy cooking gas,
which should be a social item, at a prohibitive cost of over N1,500 per kg,
while the marketers are made to pay as much as N25,200,000 or, depending on the
location, N26,200,000 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 expressed fears.
They said the development had brought untold hardship to
millions of Nigerian households, small businesses, food vendors, and low-income
families who rely on LPG for daily cooking and livelihood.
According to the association, the situation is “seriously
eroding the substantial progress made by the government” on the usage of clean
energy in the country. The group maintained that its members across the country
were facing difficulties sourcing 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 association stated.
NALPGAM warned that the crisis was undermining years of
progress achieved through Federal Government policies and investments aimed at
deepening LPG penetration and promoting clean cooking energy.
“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,” it said.
The association further warned that failure to urgently
address the crisis could lead to “accelerated food inflation, the collapse of
small-scale LPG retail businesses, job losses, reduced investor confidence, and
a significant setback to Nigeria’s clean energy and climate commitments”.
NALPGAM 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, international suppliers, and other stakeholders to take
urgent and coordinated steps to stabilise the market before it degenerates
further.
The association recommended immediate measures to improve
the availability and accessibility of LPG nationwide. It also called for
increased domestic LPG allocation to the Nigerian market, transparent
distribution of available supply, reduction of bottlenecks in importation and
distribution, and interventions to stabilise retail prices.
It requested investment in storage and distribution
infrastructure as well as policies that support affordability and
sustainability in the sector. “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,” the statement said.
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