News
Cooking gas marketers raise alarm over 75% price hike
Marketers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), under the aegis of Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM), have raised alarm over indiscriminate hike in the price of the product by 75 per cent in the last two weeks. Executive Secretary of the association, Mr Bassey Essien, raised the alarm on the arbitrary increase in a statement on Thursday in Lagos. He said within a five-day period, the price of a 20 metric tonnes of LPG which sold for N3.15 million, suddenly increased to N3.5 million and N3.9 million. “A few hours thereafter, the price moved to N4.2 million despite the fact that same product has been in the storage of these terminals when price was even N3.5 million, so why the sudden upsurge,” he said.
He said the price hike would ultimately dovetail into high prices to the consumers who unfortunately are also caught up in the web of price hikes. “At this time of the year in the past, price hikes used to be attributable to winter season, increased demand for heating energy and international price index. This we have consistently questioned why a product in abundance in our country should become such a victim of any slightest issue occurring internationally. Efforts to extract the cause of the sudden and hourly price increase from the terminals have not been met with any positive response. At one of the terminals, there was an outright denial of any price increase; however, price of LPG has been moved from N3.9 million to N4.2 million. A representative of the company insisted rather that the company had no stock.
“But when asked to explain the sudden price increase to N4.2 million when company had no stock, he was evasive,’’ he said. Essien said it became necessary to react to the current price hike of cooking gas in spite of the efforts of the government and stakeholders to deepen the usage of LPG in the country. The association is hereby disassociating itself and members from the antics of the current price hike and therefore maintaining that the price increase is not the handiwork of marketers, but rather that of the terminal owners, importers and the NLNG. Marketers are equally bemoaning the situation as the development has adversely affected business planning. If the trend is not halted immediately, the price of a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas may soon sell for over N6,000 and well out of the purchasing power of the average consumer. This brings to questioning when the issue of product availability will ever be holistically addressed. We cannot deepen the use of LPG if availability of the product is not guaranteed,’’ he said.
Essien said there was urgent need to reverse the price hike. He, however, called on the NLNG to flood the market with cooking gas since they had the capacity to do so and increase the frequency with which the vessels deliver LPG from Bonny to the terminals, particularly in the Lagos axis.
He said NLNG should supply LPG to other coastal terminals outside Lagos to reduce the inherent pressure on the terminals in the Southwest. Essien also said vessels of smaller capacities should be deployed to access the coastal terminals if product availability must be achieved. He urged LPG importers to free the PPMC depot in Lagos for the delivery of NLNG product allocation.
He said NALPGAM had embarked on the campaign of creating awareness and education of the populace particularly in the rural communities on the safe handling of LPG as the most efficient cooking energy.
According to him, this is in the quest to achieve further deepening of LPG usage in the country.
“In the campaign, the association had given out over 7,000 cylinders with burners to lucky beneficiaries in Lagos, Edo, Oyo and Akwa Ibom states, while still mapping out to do same in other states. We thus urge the government and NLNG to urgently increase the quantity of LPG earmarked for domestic consumption as the present allocation cannot sustain demand. NLNG should also work out a more robust delivery logistics so that there will be no supply lacuna. Many terminals are now operational aside those in Lagos and to reduce the pressure on Lagos, the wear and tear of the roads and traffic gridlock in Apapa. NLNG should extend their supply logistics to reach terminals in Rivers, Delta, Edo and Cross River states consistently and timely with LPG if the supply situation must improve. We cannot suffer in the face of abundance of a product we are blessed with in Nigeria. If the situation does not abet, we will soon face imminent LPG scarcity, Essien said.
Essien said some marketers who had paid down for LPG when the price was N3.45 million in a particular terminal but were awaiting loading, were being intimidated with refund of their money.
“Except they agree to pay the difference in the new price despite having tied down their funds without loading their trucks,” he said.
One of the LPG terminal operators, who preferred anoymity, told NAN that the increase was as a result of Federal Government circular to commence VAT on imported LPG. The source said that importing LPG is more expensive because NLNG only supply domestic market with 350,000 metric tonnes as against one million metric tonnes market demand. According to him, NLNG cannot meet domestic demand and there is need to import LPG to cushion the gap, adding that the government’s taxing of import has led to the increase in price. “Domestic gas is not taxed and it can meet domestic demand. We hope that government will find way to address the issues before it goes out of hand.” (NAN)
Cardano (ADAUSD) climbed amidst tight trading activities in the crypto market, up by 1.05% in the past 24 hours, showing resilience near key support.
The price ticked up on Sunday amidst negative movements in the global crypto market. The gain has reduced its negative movement in the week to 1%. Cardano is showing strength with a $70 million ADA treasury push and a bullish December setup, but it faces key resistance amidst competing traders.
The token is trading at $0.4165 at the time of filing the report on Sunday, gaining more than 1% on the day as volume traded reached $359.252 million. The token is in a notable correction from its November highs. Recent trading activity reflects pronounced investor caution. Over a 30-day period, ADA has declined approximately 15%, mirroring the broader pressure on risk assets from macroeconomic uncertainties.
Sentiment trades mixed, as retail and mid-sized investors are accumulating at lows, but large holders remain sceptical. Cardano’s privacy-centric Midnight Network went live after years of development, introducing NIGHT – the first native asset on Cardano.
According to crypto analysts, Short-term speculation around NIGHT airdrops and interoperability boosted ADA demand. ADA rebounded from $0.371–$0.416 after testing an ascending trend line connecting 2023–2025 lows. Traders interpreted the bounce as a bullish divergence, but ADA remains below critical resistance of $0.5113 and its 200-day EMA of $0.68.
ADA’s minor rally reflects optimism around Midnight’s launch and oversold technicals, but scepticism about its ecosystem impact and whale selling caps upside. While the price surges, analysts stated that Cardano balances technical hope against macroeconomic headwinds, with Midnight’s adoption trajectory and $0.51 resistance serving as critical watch points.
While governance upgrades signal maturing decentralisation, crypto analysts are still querying whether ADA can leverage these developments to reverse its 2025 underperformance.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has recovered over 7.6 million pills of tramadol and a total of 76,273.4 kilograms of different strains of cannabis.
The agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. Mr Babafemi said that the drugs, including Colorado, Loud and Skunks, had several members of drug trafficking organisations linked to the seizures arrested.
He said that out of the total opioids seized during the raids, not less than 3,874,000 pills of tramadol, 225mg and 100mg, and others, as well as 252.2litres of codeine syrup were recovered. He said that they were recovered from a warehouse at Oko market, Asaba, Delta, on Saturday. He also said that no fewer than 1.2 million tablets of tramadol 225mg were seized from a suspect on December 3.
This, he said, was when NDLEA operatives on patrol at Orogwe, along the Onitsha-Owerri road, Imo, intercepted his vehicle conveying the consignment, which was loaded at Aba, Abia, and heading to Onitsha, Anambra. Meanwhile, in Adamawa, NDLEA officers on December 1 intercepted a Toyota Hiace bus marked MGU 554 XB along Maraba-Mubi, coming from Jos, Plateau state, and heading to Mubi, with a total of 1,577,112 capsules of tramadol.
“Other drugs intercepted were Exol-5 tablets, all concealed inside jumbo bags mixed with new rubber sandals and slippers. Two suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure. Similarly, another 27-year-old suspect was nabbed along Zaria-Kano road, Kano state, with 197,000 pills of exol-5,” he said.
The NDLEA chairman, Buba Marwa, commended the officers and men of the SOU commands in Delta, Adamawa, Imo, Ondo, Lagos, and Kano for the arrests and seizures. Mr Marwa said that their operational successes, along with those of their compatriots across the country, especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction, were well appreciated. NAN
The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has released the 2025 Subnational Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Report, with Lagos emerging as the best-performing state, scoring 85.6 per cent.
The report released by the director-general of PEBEC, Zahrah Mustapha-Audu, has Kaduna in second position with 65.1 per cent. Oyo, FCT, and Ogun rounded up the top five with scores of 62.7 per cent, 61.0 per cent, and 59.9 per cent, respectively. Others include Enugu (56.2 per cent) in sixth position, with Plateau (56.2 per cent), Ekiti (55.8 per cent), Kano (54.8 per cent), and Nasarawa (53.4 per cent) rounding out the top 10 states.
The EoDB report is a comprehensive data-driven assessment of how Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT are shaping business competitiveness through regulation, infrastructure, and administrative efficiency.
The report assesses performance across 16 indicators and 36 sub-metrics covering electricity, infrastructure, digital connectivity, land administration, taxation, trade logistics, justice delivery, investor support and skilled labour readiness.
According to the DG, these states distinguished themselves through consistent reform momentum, improved digital processes, and more predictable regulatory environments. “The 2025 Report also highlights five priority interventions states can implement immediately. These include establishing investor aftercare systems, strengthening MSME credit enablement, harmonising interstate trade rules, upgrading commercial justice processes, and improving power reliability for industrial clusters,” she said.
According to her, PEBEC will continue to support state-led reform adoption, particularly under the $750 million State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) programme. She added that “the 2025 Subnational EoDB Report provides a critical foundation for policy action, investment decisions, and long-term competitiveness across Nigeria.”
The DG said the Subnational Ease of Doing Business Report is available for download at www.pebec.gov.ng/reports
PEBEC had earlier released its 2025 Business Facilitation Act (BFA) Performance Report, covering MDAs’ performance from January to October. This performance report is part of the council’s effort to track and measure the compliance of federal government MDAs with the BFA’s requirements on promoting Transparency and Efficiency of government-delivered services to the business community.
The report presents a data-driven assessment of 69 priority MDAs, drawing on monthly compliance submissions, independent mystery shopping, website audits, ReportGov analytics, and targeted process-verification exercises.
According to the report, the top five performing MDAs include the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), with an impressive 90.6 per cent score, followed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at 89 per cent. The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), ranks third with 86.6percent, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) secured the fourth and fifth positions, scoring 85.3 per cent and 84.2 per cent, respectively.
PEBEC, currently chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, was established in July 2016 by the federal government to oversee Nigeria’s business environment intervention. It has a dual mandate of removing bureaucratic and legislative constraints to doing business and improving the perception of the ease of doing business in Nigeria. NAN
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