There seems to be fresh concerns for Nigerians, following the significant rise of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, also known as cooking gas across the nation.
iBrandTV gathered that the situation has deteriorated, thus forcing households into untold hardship.
For instance, the product which was sold at N280 per kilogram in the first quarter of 2021, increased by eight percent to N304 in several states across the country.
While Nigerians are trying to adjust to the new price, the price of the product rose again by 10 percent in July to N336. The situation deteriorated further in August, as the price rose significantly by 36 percent to N528 per kilogram.
Traders, households react
Speaking to our correspondent about the situation, a trader in Iba Housing Estate who simply wants to be addressed as Victor Izuwah, stated that the sudden rise of the product is forcing his family into untold hardship.
According to him, “We have been managing the marginal increase as it was not that much, until late June, 2021, when the price of the product skyrocketed.
“We believe that marketers of LPG are engaging in sharp practice to benefit from their sale without considering the state of the country.
“We are also considering whether the increase in Foreign Exchange along with the cost of transporting the product is responsible for the increase.”
Another consumer of the product at Orile, Mrs Ufuoma Oge stated that the increase in LPG took a rising ground late June this year.
“The 3kg which sold at N700 is now selling at N1500. Also, the 6kg which we usually buy at N2500 now sells at N3, 600, while the 12kg which sold at N4, 800 now sells at N6, 000.”
A local distributor of the product at Igando, Nosa Itoro told our reporter that, “We believe that since the product does not have a fixed and selected price the marketers can easily increase and decrease the price of the product.
“We are also thinking there is hope for the product to decrease in price if not there will be a continuous increase in the price of the product and it will cause discomfort to us.
“Our supplier who buys his product from marketers at Gas land, Igando states that the cost of the product can decrease maybe by a little margin from the price it is selling for now.”
NBS cooking gas price watch
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, NBS, in its LPG Price Watch for July, stated that the Average price for the refilling of a 5kg cylinder for LPG increased by 3.52 percent month-on-month and by 8.64 percent year-on-year to N2,141.59 in July 2021 from N2,068.69 in June 2021.
According to the report, states with the highest average price for the refilling of a 5kg cylinder for LPG, were Akwa Ibom (N2,600.00), Benue (N2,540.00) and Bauchi (N2,486.86).
States with the lowest average price for the refilling of a 5kg cylinder for the products were Abuja (N1,806.15), Lagos (N1,840.80) and Ondo (N1,842.94).
Similarly, average price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder for LPG increased by 3.11% month-on-month and by 7.16% year-on-year to N4,422.32 in July 2021 from N4,289.05 in June 2021.
“States with the highest average price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder for LPG were Abuja (N5,050.00), Gombe (N5,000.00) and Kogi (N4,985.00).
“States with the lowest average price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder for LPG were Kaduna (N3,718.09), Zamfara (N3,725.38) and Oyo (N3,859.97),” the report added.