A 70 percent surge in the price of cooking gas has aroused feelings of discontent and despondency in Nigerians, leaving many households struggling to put food on their tables.
For decades, cooking gas has been seen as a cleaner and more efficient alternative to traditional methods like firewood and charcoal. However, the recent price hike has forced many to revert to these older, often more time-consuming, environmentally harmful practices.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed cooking gas (liquefied petroleum gas, LPG) refill price for a 12.5kg cylinder rose 69.15 percent to N15, 552.56 in August 2024, from N9,194.41 in the corresponding period of 2023.
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For Lagos-based web developer, Abiodun Adeleke, the price jump feels like a gut punch.
Venting his frustration on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, “12.5kg cooking gas is now N19,000. Just months ago, it was N9,000. That’s a 100 percent hike in less than a year. How are people surviving this economy?”
It’s not just households that are affected—small businesses, particularly caterers and food vendors who rely on gas for their operations, are facing harsh realities.
Mary Olabuson, a caterer in Ibeju-Lekki, shared her frustration after being forced to walk away from a cooking job due to rising expenses.
“I had a client call me for a job, but after calculating the cost, gas alone took up a huge chunk of the budget. In the end, I had to turn down the offer because the client couldn’t afford my revised rate,” Olabuson said.
Mohammed Ahmed, a street food vendor selling fried yam, has had to make difficult adjustments to stay afloat.
“I have cut down the portions of yam I fry, and I had to raise the price of my fried chicken. My customers are upset and some say they will stop buying from me. But what choice do I have? Gas prices are out of control,” he said.
Despite the federal government’s announcement of the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) from the commodity since October last year, the prices of cooking gas have failed to drop considerably.
Experts say the foreign exchange volatility in the country has spiked the LNG price as importers find it difficult to access needed funds for the importation of the product.
Read also: Cooking gas price rose by 69% in August 2024
“Rising international prices, high tax rates and prices of vessels, forex scarcity, and naira devaluation are some of the reasons for the current increase,” Olatunbosun Oladapo, president of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, said.
“The situation is quite unfortunate because prices are going higher. Nigerian consumers are passing through very difficult times because they can no longer afford gas,” he added.
Nigeria has about 209 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas under the ground, but the country is unable to fully explore the natural resource due to low investment in the sector.
A further analysis of NBS’s data showed that the South-South recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas at N16,524.00, followed by the South-East with N16,495.78 while the North-Central reported the lowest price with N14,767.41.
In addition, the average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas increased by 7.62 percent on a month-on-month basis, from N5,974.55 recorded in July 2024 to N6,430.02 in August 2024.
But on a year-on-year basis, this increased by 56.25 percent, from N4,115.32 in August 2023.
“On state profile analysis, Benue and Sokoto recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg of cooking gas with N7,000.00, followed by Rivers with N6,954.55, and Borno with N6,914.29.
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“On the other hand, Taraba recorded the lowest price with N5,600.67, followed by Abuja and Kogi with N5,825.00 and N5,857.56 respectively,” the NBS said.
“In addition, analysis by zone showed that the South-East recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of LPG with N6,585.18, followed by the South-South with N6,451.34 while the North-Central recorded the lowest with N6,344.29.”
Nigeria’s inflation rate has been on a rising trajectory in recent months, hitting as high as 34 percent before dropping slightly to 32.15 percent in August, from 33.40 percent in July of 2024.
