The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics has revealed in its September report that Kerosine’s average retail price per litre rose by 118% between September 2021 and September 2022.
According to the National Household Kerosene report of the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, the price of the product rose to N947 from N434 recorded in September 2021.
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It opined that poor Nigerians may not be able to afford to buy Kerosine in a short while as the price of the commodity has risen by 118% in the last 12 months.
The report, states that the average retail price per litre of HHK paid by consumers in September 2022 was N947, indicating an increase of 17% compared to N809 recorded in August 2022.
A breakdown of the report showed that on state profile analysis, the highest average price per litre in September 2022 was recorded in Enugu at N1,272, and the lowest price was recorded in Rivers at N686.
The South-East recorded the highest average retail price per litre of the product with N1,128, followed by the South-West with N1,068, while the North-West recorded the lowest with N869.
The average retail price per gallon of the products paid by consumers in September 2022 was N3,236, showing an increase of 10% from N2,948 in August 2022. On a year-on-year basis, it increased by 110% from N1,541 in September 2021.
In July, one gallon of cooking kerosene was sold for N790, an increase of 3.68% compared to N761.69 recorded in June.
The state oil company, the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited had recently halted the importation of the product, leading to continuous hikes in prices by independent marketers.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, of NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, said more than 70 per cent of the over 200 million Nigerian population lack access to clean cooking fuels. The price of cooking gas has also skyrocketed.
The National President of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, Oladapo Olatunbosun, revealed that gas consumption had dropped drastically to 800,000 metric tonnes per annum from 1, 250 million MT per annum recorded about four months ago.
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According to him, given Nigeria’s huge population, the country should consume at least six million MT per annum.
“800, 000MT per annum is the current consumption rate in Nigeria. A few months ago we were doing 1,250 million MT per annum.
“Ordinarily, given our population in this country, we should consume about six million MT per annum just like other African countries like Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Kenya, South Africa, and other countries. But these countries currently consume more LPG than Nigeria despite our huge population”.
Meanwhile, financial and economic experts have advised the government to intervene in the situation to ameliorate the challenges facing Nigerians.
A former Director-General of, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said the government’s intervention is quickly needed to bring down the product’s costs for the poor masses’ sake.
He said, “The astronomical increase in the price of cooking kerosene will further aggravate the poverty situation in the country. Household kerosene is not a luxury, it is a necessity. It is bad enough that we are grappling with high food inflation, and now there is an additional burden of an escalating cost of means of cooking the food. So for the average Nigerian and the poor, this is an added burden; obviously, the impact on poverty will be very profound.
