Cooking gas nears N2,000/kg ahead of Sallah celebrations

The price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas) is inching closer to N2,000 per kilogramme in different locations as Muslims prepare for the 2026 Eid-el-Kabir celebrations.

The Federal Government has declared Wednesday, May 27, and Thursday, May 28, 2026, as public holidays to mark the Sallah festivities.

A survey by our correspondent showed that cooking gas prices rose from below N1,000/kg recently to about N1,500 and N1,800 in different parts of the country.

Consumers in the South West told our correspondent that they now buy LPG at about N2,000 in Ogun border communities and between N1,600 and N1,700 in Lagos, Abeokuta, and Ibadan. In the North, the essential commodity is now sold between N1,800 and N2,000 per kilogramme.

“One of the only ways the government can assist the masses is through affordable cooking gas, but Nigerian leaders don’t care,” a consumer identified as Borokinni said.

The current hike in LPG prices is the first in 2026 and the second in seven months since October 2025, when the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria had an encounter that led to the shutdown of oil and gas assets across the country.

The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers has raised the alarm over erratic supply and rising cost of LPG, warning that the situation could trigger scarcity and worsen hardship for millions of Nigerians.

The association said on Sunday that cooking gas is now selling above N1,500/kg, while marketers currently pay between N25.2m and N26.2m for 20 metric tonnes of the product, depending on location.

In a statement jointly signed by the National President of NALPGAM, Edu Inyang, and the Executive Secretary, Mr Bassey Essien, the association described the development as “sad and rather very pathetic”.

“The citizens of Nigeria have woken up to buy cooking gas, which should be a social item, at a prohibitive cost of over N1,500 per kg, while the marketers are made to pay as much as N25,200,000 or, depending on the location, N26,200,000 for 20 metric tonnes of cooking gas.

“We feel that if the situation is not immediately checked, the citizens may rise against the owners of gas filling stations,” the marketers expressed fears.

They said the development had brought untold hardship to millions of Nigerian households, small businesses, food vendors, and low-income families who rely on LPG for daily cooking and livelihood.

NALPGAM warned that the crisis was undermining years of progress achieved through Federal Government policies and investments aimed at deepening LPG penetration and promoting clean cooking energy.

“While millions of Nigerians have embraced cooking gas as a result of the national clean energy transition agenda, it is sad to state that those gains are at risk as households are struggling to refill cylinders, small businesses are folding under rising energy costs, while many families are reverting to firewood and charcoal despite the serious implications for public health, environmental degradation, and deforestation,” it said.

The association further warned that failure to urgently address the crisis could lead to “accelerated food inflation, the collapse of small-scale LPG retail businesses, job losses, reduced investor confidence, and a significant setback to Nigeria’s clean energy and climate commitments”.

Apart from the high cost of LPG, some residents are also worried that the product is gradually becoming unavailable in some neighbourhood shops, calling on the government to address the issue, especially as Nigerians stay at home for the Eid-el-Kabir holiday.