The price of cooking gas has risen to between N2,000 and N2,080/kg in many parts of the country, including Abuja and Lagos.
In Abuja, the price of a 12.5 kg of gas rose to N25,000 at N2,000 per kg.
In the suburbs of Abuja, the price was however lower at N20,000 for 12.5kg cylinder at N1,600 per kg.
In Lagos, retail price for a 12.5kg cylinder rose to as high as N27,000 at N2,200 per kg.
In some other places, the price of the product rose to N26,000 for 12.5 kg at N2,080 per kg.
The new price represents a 48.57 per cent increase from the previous rate of N17,500 for a 12.5kg cylinder.
Group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Bayo Ojulari, attributed the hike in the price of cooking gas to the recent strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
Ojulari spoke to state house journalists on Sunday after a courtesy visit to President Bola Tinubu.
According to him, some retailers and marketers with existing stock also increased their prices, contributing to the overall increase.
He, however, assured Nigerians that the surge would ease soon.
“So, the increase you saw was relatively artificial because for the period of the strike, what that meant was movements and loading were delayed by about two, three days.
“And because of that, you see that impact as things return back to normal. It takes some time for distribution to be fully restored.
“And of course, as you know, in Nigeria, people take opportunity. With that delay, some of the people that have existing resources and reserves had to put up the price.
“My expectation is that now that things are back to normal, prices should return back to what they were before the strike.”
On October 1, PENGASSAN suspended its nationwide strike planned in response to the Dangote refinery’s dismissal of Nigerian workers.
