Despite the Federal Government’s N250bn intervention fund on the National Gas Expansion Plan which aims to expand the usage of cooking gas across the country, data obtained from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics reveals that the price of refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas increased by 122 per cent from N4,422 in July 2021.
According to the latest report, on a state basis, Ebonyi has the highest average retail price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder with N11,212. Next is Delta with N10,926 and Ekiti comes third with N10,883.
However, the lowest average price of the gas was recorded in Katsina with N8,355, followed by Yobe and Kano with N8,383 and N8,614 respectively.
Based on zonal analysis, the South-West had the highest average retail price with N10,334. Next is the South -South with N10,239, while the North-East had the lowest price with N9,139.
According to Group Chief Executive Officer, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, more than 70 per cent of the over 200 million Nigerian population lacked access to clean cooking fuels.
The NGEP intervention fund, which was jointly launched in August 2020 by the CBN and the Federal Government commenced implementation in August 2021.
The core objective of the fund is to finance the establishment of gas processing plants and small-scale petrochemical plants, gas cylinder manufacturing plants, Compressed Natural Gas, among others across the country.
Clariform reports that inflation is nearly 20 percent, with the dollar exchanging for N670/$ at the parallel market which is where most importers and manufacturers in the country source get forex.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, incomes of 67 per cent households shrinked in August 2020 compared to 2019.
The National Bureau of statistics however has not released data on household incomes but with the rising inflation, it is obvious that the value household incomes are increasingly shrinking.
According to a Nigerian economist, Sheriffdeen Tella, government’s intervention was quickly required so as to bring down cost of cooking gas for the sake of the poor masses.
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In his words, “The astronomical increase in the price of cooking gas will further aggravate poverty situation in the country. Cooking gas 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 Nigerians and the poor, this is an added burden, and obviously, the impact on poverty will be very profound. It has implications for hunger, food security, and things like this have a way of creating social tension in the country.”
“Many households have even resorted to the use of firewood, charcoal, and all of these are not consistent with the current policy on deforestation, and climate change.
“So, it is very important that urgent steps are taken to intervene in bringing down the cost. This is particularly very important because of the impact of the high cost on the poor.”
