The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has raised a severe alarm over the skyrocketing cost of cooking gas across the country.
The association warned that if the continuous price hike is left unchecked, it could trigger widespread public outrage and civil unrest directed at operators of gas filling stations.
Currently, the retail price of cooking gas has soared to between ₦1,500 and ₦1,700 per kilogram, forcing marketers to fork out a staggering ₦25.2 million to ₦26.2 million for a single 20-metric-tonne truck, depending on the location.
Expressing deep concern over the development, NALPGAM National President, Mr. Edu Inyang, made an urgent appeal to the Federal Government to intervene and stabilize both supply and pricing.
He emphasized that the current economic strain has placed millions of households, food vendors, and small businesses under severe pressure. “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,” Inyang stated, warning that citizens might soon rise against station owners if the government fails to act.
According to the association, the crisis is primarily driven by persistent supply shortages, exorbitant depot prices, severe logistics bottlenecks, and escalating operational costs faced by marketers nationwide.
These combined factors have created a hostile market environment, driving retail prices completely out of reach for average citizens and low-income earners who rely on the commodity for their daily survival.
The implications of this price surge extend far beyond financial strain, threatening to reverse years of progress in Nigeria’s clean energy drive.
NALPGAM disclosed that many desperate households are already reverting to hazardous alternatives like firewood and charcoal.
Mr. Inyang warned that this regression poses severe risks to public health and environmental sustainability, while concurrently worsening food inflation, crippling small retail businesses, and triggering massive job losses across the sub-sector.
In a bid to avert total collapse, NALPGAM has called for an immediate, coordinated intervention from key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and NNPC Ltd.
The association urged authorities to increase domestic supply allocations, ensure transparent product distribution, and eliminate import bottlenecks.
They maintained that these strategic interventions are crucial to making cooking gas affordable, accessible, and safe for all Nigerians.
