FG promises to give out about 10m  cooking gas cylinders  into Nigeria market

Chinazor Megbolu

The Federal Government has said it will pump 5 to 10 million Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) gas cylinders into the nation’s market in one year.

This was disclosed by the Programme Manager, National LPG Expansion Implementation Plan, Mr. Dayo Adeshina on Wednesday in Lagos during the sensitisation workshop on LPG Adoption and Implementation for Industry Stakeholders.

While noting that the move was to improve safety and boost LPG usage in Nigeria,  Adeshina added that the National LPG Expansion Implementation Plan, domiciled in the Office of the Vice President, was geared towards achieving the country’s target of 5 million Metric Tons of LPG consumption annually by 2027.

“The Federal Government is working towards injecting five to 10 million cooking gas cylinders into the market within the next one year.

“We are starting the cylinder injection under the first phase in 11 pilot states and FCT, with two states from each of the geopolitical zones.

“The states are Lagos, Ogun, Bauchi, Gombe, Katsina, Sokoto, Delta, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Enugu, Niger and the Federal Capital Territory.

“The cylinders will be injected through the marketers. The marketers will be responsible for the cylinders and the exchange will take place in homes and not in filling stations.

“What this means is that going forward, cylinders will not be owned by individuals but by the marketers who will ensure that they are safe for usage,’’ Adeshina said.

He further explained that the country has gas reserve of 203TCF, saying that the government is ready to partner with stakeholders in a bid to ensure its utilisation for developmental purposes.

Adeshina pointed out that apart from household consumption, government was also moving to increase LPG usage in agriculture, transportation and manufacturing.

“This will enable the country to reduce CO2 emission by about 20 per cent and create millions of jobs for Nigerians,” he said.

Adeshina, however, posited that aside investment in infrastructure, the government had also granted waivers on importation of LPG equipment and removed Value Added Tax (VAT) on LPG.

Meanwhile, the President, Nigeria Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (NLPGA), Mr. Nuhu Yakubu, in his remarks, said that efforts should be made to ensure the availability, accessibility and affordability of cooking gas in Nigeria.

He noted that such action would encourage more Nigerians to embrace gas usage in their homes with the attendant benefits to Nigeria.