The federal government has been advised by the Nigerian Gas Association, NGA, to make gas more available for Nigerians’ use.
The association said in Lagos on Friday that Nigerian with an abundance of natural gas should be able to invest more in her gas resources to make it affordable for Nigerians in the face of the rising cost of petrol.
Comparatively, the cost of compressed gas that can be used for domestic, industrial and other purposes is cheaper to PMS aka petrol which has continuously experienced price surge lately.
Following the removal of the petrol subsidy in May this year by the federal government, the price of the commodity has shot up to at least N620 per litre, beyond the reach of many Nigerian consumers.
Marketers of the product have again threatened to increase the price further to match the current realities in the sector. Some petrol stations have also shut down in the last few weeks due to what they blamed on the shortage of the product, partly because of the scarcity of foreign exchange to import petrol into the country, according to independent petrol marketers.
But the government-controlled NNPCL denied the claim during the week of any plan to further hike petrol price in the country.
The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration says it’s making huge investment to make CNG more affordable, saying the effect of the investment will manifest in a few months.
Amidst these challenges, NGA President, Akachukwu Nwokedi told journalists in Lagos yesterday that it’s possible for consumers to shift from petrol to natural gas for their different uses if government can invest more in the area.
According to him, “The Federal Government has to continue to make gas affordable, and we as an association support CNG, Train 7 because Nigeria has enough gas resources to achieve economic growth. Besides CNG is 15 per cent cheaper than petrol.”
Meanwhile, not a few Nigerian consumers have slammed the government for policy summersault in the energy sector. For instance, the government had at a time encouraged Nigerians to shift to gas from kerosene for their domestic use, saying it’s cheaper. Now, the price of cooking gas has risen to N13,500 per 12.5 kilogram with rumour that the price could rise to as much as 20, 0000 before the end of the year.
