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”.