Success Nwogu 
National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN), Alhaji Abubarkar Maigandi Shettima, has said that the current scarcity of cooking gas in Nigeria will end this week.
In an interview with New Telegraph yesterday, he also stated that the product should be available in many states of the country from coming Wednesday.
Shettima said: “There is a small issue from Dangote’s side. When Dangote starts distributing gas the scarcity will come down. I know there are small issues, immediately all those issues are being rectified, gas will be everywhere.
The issue is just a technical challenge which they will resolve this week. “It is not a technical challenge with the refinery, it is a technical challenge with distribution. That is what caused the scarcity of gas. Dangote even reduced the price of gas to N760 per kilogram. There will be gas very soon.
The refinery is promising us this week. Hopefully by Wednesday, there will be gas, that is what we are expecting.” Nigerians have been plunged into gas scarcity for over a week.
In a few places where gas was being sold, the price skyrocketed. Investigation by New Telegraph showed that a major distributor that has a tank farm in Ikosi, Ketu, Lagos who was refilling 12.5kg of gas for N17,000 a few days ago has increased it to N22,000 yesterday.
National President, the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM), Oladapo Olatunbosun, while appearing on Channels Television, also said the price spike was caused by temporary supply disruptions and market exploitation by some operators.
He said: “I sympathise with Nigerians as the President of NALPGAM because we never intended to have a situation like this. I must say categorically that prices of cooking gas have not gone up officially. What is happening is that some marketers are taking advantage of the supply shortage and market forces to make quick profits, which is wrong. We frown at this as an association.”
But the National Chairman, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Ayobami Olarinoye, had said the recent scarcity and sharp increase in prices of cooking gas liquefied petroleum gas had unleashed untold hardship on Nigerian households and businesses, adding that the situation has become worrisome. He said it is incorrect to blame retailers for the hike in prices of cooking gas.
He said: “While we respect NALPGAM as a senior partner in the LPG sector, we cannot help but feel that this blameshifting is unjustified. As retailers, we do not operate at the depot level, we are not importers of LPG, nor do we participate in off-taking. Our operations are limited to buying from plant owners and selling to end-users.”
