- Cooking gas price jumps to N1, 500/kg
BY FESTUS OKOROMADU
Again, the national grid collapsed for the sixth time in 2024 on Monday, plunging millions of Nigerians into darkness.
Several electricity distribution companies said the incident happened around 6 pm and work was in progress to restore the system.
“Kindly be informed there was a system collapse at 18:48hrs which has resulted in a loss of power supply across our network. We are currently working with our partners as we hope for speedy restoration of the grid. We will keep you updated as soon as the power supply is restored. Kindly bear with us,” Eko Electricity Distribution Company which serves some parts of Lagos State said on its X handle.
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC also told its customers about the “general system collapse that occurred at 18:48 hours today, 14th October, 2024. This has resulted in the loss of supply currently being experienced across the EEDC network.
“Consequently, due to this development, all our interface TCN stations are out of supply, and we are unable to provide services to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States.”
It was also a similar situation with the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company which promised the restoration of normalcy as soon as possible.
“Dear Valued Customer, Please be informed that the power outage being experienced is due to a system failure from the national grid at 6:58 pm today, affecting the power supply to our franchise areas,” the Abuja Disco said.
But it assured that, “we are working with the relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon as the grid is stabilised. Thank you for your understanding.”
Checks by our correspondent confirmed that power generation dropped from 3.87 gigawatts at 5 pm to 3.56GW at 6 pm and 0.00GW at 7 pm and 8 pm.
Cooking gas price jumps to N1, 500/kg
As Nigerians struggle with the high cost of petrol, the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, also known as cooking gas, has also increased to N1,500/kg.
But the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NIPCO Plc, Suresh Kumar, said the Dangote refinery and other domestic refineries would bring down the price of cooking gas, expressing concerns that over 60 per cent of cooking gas consumed in Nigeria are being imported.
The prices of cooking gas peaked at N1, 500/kg in some retail outlets in Ogun and Lagos States as of Sunday.
In Abuja, the average price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas has increased by 41.6 per cent to N17, 000 in different areas.
The same commodity sold for N12, 000 in July and N11, 735 in January 2024.
This sharp price rise reflects ongoing trends in the market and may have implications for consumers, many of whom rely on LPG for their daily cooking needs.
In August, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, promised to ensure a reduction in the rising cost of a kilogram of cooking gas.
Ekpo noted that he would invite the regulators and the gas producers to find ways to bring down the cost.
However, a new market survey revealed that the price has not decreased; instead, it has risen even further.
An analysis showed that the product currently sells for N17, 000 in Lokogoma area of the FCT, an increase of 41.6 percent from N12, 000 vendors sold to customers three months ago. This means one kilogram of gas was sold for N1,400.
In Kubwa, the product was sold between N16,200 and N16,500 from N12,000 previously charged. But in the outskirts of Bwari, Kurudu and Jikwoyi, the product sold for N1,300.
Some major distributors still sell the product between N1,300 and N1,400 depending on the location.
