28th June, 2016
Some residents in Lagos have decried the increasing price of kerosene, which sold for as much as N240 per litre on Tuesday in some outlets.
The residents spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Lagos.
Mrs Kikelomo Adubi, a resident of Ilasamaja, said the rising price had made it difficult for the poor to buy kerosene for cooking.
“I sent my daughter to the filling station to buy kerosene, thinking it was still N180 per litre.
“To my surprise, my daughter came back without the product, telling me that it is was selling for N240 per litre at the filling station.
“How do we survive in this country when the last hope of common people is no longer available?
“The government should not continue to watch the masses suffer, they should come up with palliative measures to save us,” she said.
Mrs Bidemi Ojo, a food seller at Ojuelegba, said she had turned to using cooking gas to replace kerosene because the price had gone up.
Ojo said that the increase in kerosene price had, however, also pushed up the price of cooking gas.
“Even now, the price of gas has increased; before 12.5kg cylinder was sold for N2,500, but now it is N4,000 while 6kg cylinder is N2,000.
“Government should help us to do something about this increase, the masses are suffering,” she said.
Others who spoke with NAN called for government intervention, urging the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to supply the product to filling stations at the approved price to drive down the price.
Mr Tokunbo Korodo, South-West Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) told NAN that there had been no loading of products at Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) depots since May 31.
Korodo said the situation had resulted in the increase in prices of kerosene and diesel, as oil marketers sourced for the products in private depots in Apapa, Lagos.
“For more than 28 days now, there are no loading activities in PPMC depots nationwide.
“Oil marketers have resorted to private depots in Apapa to load their trucks; this gives the private depot owners the opportunity to sell the products at their own price.
“If there are products at PPMC depots, the price would not have gone up like this.
“Most of the private depots sell a litre of diesel for N180 per litre while kerosene is sold for N200 per litre.
“Now diesel and kerosene are sold between N200 and N220 respectively in filling stations,” he said.
Korodo appealed to NNPC management to pump petroleum products to their depots for marketers to load in order to bring down the prices.
Alhaji Taofiki Lawal, the Head, Corporate Communications Unit of NIPCO Plc, also told NAN that many oil importers no longer import kerosene.
Lawal said this had resulted in hike in the price because the product was limited.
“Most of the oil marketers import diesel and petroleum; they are not importing kerosene now because they believe that it will not sell fast.
“This is why the price is on the high side because the demand is now more than the supply,” he said.
On Jan. 24, the Federal Government hiked the price of Household Kerosene (HHK) to N83 per litre from N50 per litre, thereby, officially ending subsidy on the product.