Families in Lagos and other parts of the country are reeling under the pressure of soaring Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, with the commodity now selling for as high as N3,500 per kilogram in some retail outlets.
The shortage, which became noticeable last Thursday, has forced many households to seek alternative energy sources such as electricity and charcoal.
Long queues were observed at gas stations across Lagos on Monday, October 6, 2025, as residents scrambled to refill their cylinders.
Some of the residents described the situation as unbearable, adding that many households were forced to consider electric or charcoal alternatives.
The President of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM), Olatunbosun Oladapo, attributed the scarcity and sharp rise in cost to a temporary supply distortion triggered by the PENGASSAN strike and internal maintenance at the Dangote Refinery.
Oladapo stated that while the strike disrupted vessel berthing at Lagos terminals, the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) had supplied Port Harcourt in large volumes, which is why the South-South region did not witness similar scarcity.
He, however, assured that normalcy would return in the coming days as Dangote and other suppliers resume full-scale loading.
Meanwhile, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mr. Bayo Ojulari, has attributed the recent spike in cooking gas prices to the temporary halt in operations caused by the strike action of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
Speaking with State House correspondents after visiting President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Ojulari said the industrial action disrupted loading and distribution for several days, creating an artificial price surge.
“The increase you saw was relatively artificial because during the strike, movement and loading were delayed by about two to three days,” he explained.“As operations normalise, it will take a little time for distribution and pricing to stabilise.”
He also accused some retailers of exploiting the brief supply gap to inflate prices, noting that “some people with existing stock took advantage of the situation to raise prices.”
Ojulari assured Nigerians that cooking gas prices would gradually return to pre-strike levels as supply chains recover.
The strike, triggered by the dismissal of Nigerian workers at the Dangote Refinery, disrupted fuel and gas operations nationwide before it was suspended on October 1 following federal government intervention.
The Dangote Group later agreed to reinstate the affected workers, paving the way for normal operations and stabilisation of gas prices.
