As the nation prepares for its 2023 general elections, many Nigerian households and businesses are finding it difficult to keep up with the hike in the price of commodities, one of which is cooking gas.
According to the latest data by the National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS), refilling a 5kg cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas) stood at N3800.47 last month. A development that translates to an 83.67% increase from an average retail price of N2,069.21 in April 2021, on a year-on-year basis.
Speaking with newsmen, a barber, Adam, who recently ventured into the gas retail business, lamented that if he had known, he wouldn’t have started the journey. He also lamented that customers are not turning up as they used to, saying “even when they do, they don’t buy as expected”.
Meanwhile, an undergraduate student of the University of Benin, (UNIBEN), Elizabeth Olabanji, who is currently at home because of the ASUU strike, said over time her household had to cut down the gas purchases.
On the other hand, Olaoluwa Adeleye, a journalist, said he was bewildered by the coping mechanism some retailers and consumers in Akure are adopting to cushion the effect of this rise. According to him, “The last time I went to get my cylinder filled, I saw the fuel station attendant also selling charcoal”, he stated, adding that “many Akure residents now get charcoal to compensate for the shortfall in gas purchased”. Adeleye further reiterated that his coping mechanism for the issue is to use the electric cooker.
However, according to States-profile analysis, the highest average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas was recorded in Gombe, with N4337.50, followed by Bayelsa, with N4250.00 and Adamawa, with N4220.00.
Yobe, Sokoto, and Zamfara, on the other hand, recorded the lowest average price, with N2931.83, N3000.00, and N3250.00 respectively.
In addition, prices analysed by zones show that the average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas was highest in the South-East, with N4041.39, followed by the South-South, with N3896.59, and North-Central, with N3835.83, while the North-West recorded the lowest average retail price of N3572.83.
