Oct. 22, 2021

The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM), has appealed to the federal government to reconsider the reintroduction of VAT on LPG importation, which has also driven the price of the product upward.

Mr. Bassey Essien, the association’s Executive Secretary while decrying the increment noted that the price of a 20 Metric Tonne truck of LPG had increased from N3.9 million in October 2020 to N10.6 million as at Oct. 21, 2021.

Essien told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos that about 60 per cent of the over one million Metric Tonnes of LPG consumed in the country were imported, with the Nigeria LNG Ltd. supplying about 40 per cent to the domestic market.

“The high cost of the product with the eroding purchasing power of the people will only result in a reversal to the use of the readily affordable charcoal and firewood with the attendant negative environmental and health implications.”

Essien said, “We believe that since we are importing a bulk of our LPG consumption, government should create easier access to forex for marketers to import the product.

However, Mrs Eyono Fatayi-Williams, General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, NLNG, said the company was prioritising supply of LPG to the domestic market.

She expressed optimism that the completion of the NLNG Train 7 Project would boost supply of gas to the domestic market by about 30 per cent. (NAN)