Economy
Marketers Lament Rising Cost of Cooking Gas
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has appealed to the federal government to urgently intervene in arresting the hike in the prices of cooking gas across the country.
The group, in an open letter jointly signed by its Executive Secretary, Mr Bassey Essien, and its National Public Relations Officer, Mr Raphael Aguele, on Friday, lamented that the sharp rise was unbearable and was affecting their business.
In the letter addressed to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, the body decried the fact that the price of 12.5 kg of cooking gas has increased from N3,300 to N4,200 and N5,500 at retail outlets in the last few months.
NALPGAM appealed to the government to put in place a policy that would encourage full domestication of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas.
The marketers said every local producer of gas should be mandated to domicile all molecules produced in the country as against the situation of being a major exporter of gas produced as well as a major importer of gas.
“If all molecule of gas produced should be domesticated, the local markets will be adequately supplied and prices stabilised.
“By this way, the concerted efforts of the federal and state government agencies to encourage the use of gas would not be in vain.
“Thus, we urge your urgent intervention to address the plight of stakeholders; else all the expansion programmes of the government would be an exercise in futility,” NALPGAM said.
The marketers noted that the government, in line with its aspiration to deepen gas utilisation in Nigeria, had urged investors to harness investment opportunities in the entire gas value chain to bridge the gap in other domestic gas usage in the country.
They said the significant growth in local consumption of LPG had been hinged on many Nigerians converting to cooking gas for domestic and commercial uses.
According to NALPGAM, the country’s local consumption which hitherto stood at about 70,000 metric tonnes as of 2007 had grown to over one million metric tonnes as at end of 2020.
“A major challenge with LPG utilisation in Nigeria is the issue of inconsistent availability and ever galloping gas price with the attendant depot landing costs and other associated charges.
“The domestic availability has been skewed majorly to 65 per cent import dependence, while only 35 per cent has been attributed to local supply.
“The price of LPG has exponentially skyrocketed over the last few months.
“The cost of LPG early in 2020 was N3.4 million per 20MT truck, but by December 2020, it had gone up to N5.4 million; N5.6 million in January 2021 and N6 million per 20 MT by February.
“The galloping price increases have not only choked marketers but have also strangulated consumers, thus making a mockery of the whole gas expansion plan of the government,” the marketers said.
They noted that the gains made in the huge conversion rate to LPG usage which had moved the per capita consumption from 1.5kg to over 3kg have gradually reduced because of the domestic costs of LPG.
The marketers said a majority of users of LPG were gradually reverting to the use of kerosene and firewood with the obvious known health implications.
NALPGAM also alleged that LPG operations at the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (Oredo IGHF Plant), Ologbo, Edo State were dominated by “middlemen”.
They said: “These middlemen without identifiable LPG bottling plants are hawking LPG allocations from plant to plant for patronage at exorbitant prices.
“Equally, disturbing is the fact that gas plant owners in the Edo/Delta region with their verifiable large storage capacities have not been granted any off-taker facility despite the location of the project in the region.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government has been asked by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to suspend the implementation of the controversial tax laws.
In a reaction to the tax reform acts, the president of the group, Mr Afam Osigwe (SAN), the suspension of the laws would allow for a proper investigation into allegations of alterations in the gazetted and harmonised copies.
A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Abdussamad Dasuki, alleged that some parts of the laws passed by the parliament were different from the gazetted copy.
To address the issues raised, the NBA said it is “imperative that a comprehensive, open, and transparent investigation be conducted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the laws and to restore public confidence in the legislative process.”
“Until these issues are fully examined and resolved, all plans for the implementation of the Tax Reform Acts should be immediately suspended,” the association declared.
It noted that the controversies “raise grave concerns about the integrity, transparency, and credibility of Nigeria’s legislative process.”
“These developments strike at the very heart of constitutional governance and call into question the procedural sanctity that must attend lawmaking in a democratic society,” it noted.
“Legal and policy uncertainty of this magnitude has far-reaching consequences. It unsettles the business environment, erodes investor confidence, and creates unpredictability for individuals, businesses, and institutions required to comply with the law. Such uncertainty is inimical to economic stability and should have no place in a system governed by the rule of law.
“Nigeria’s constitutional democracy demands that laws, especially those with profound economic and social implications, emerge from processes that are transparent, accountable, and beyond reproach. Anything short of this undermines public trust and weakens the foundation upon which lawful governance rests.
“We therefore call on all relevant authorities to act swiftly and responsibly in addressing this controversy, in the overriding interest of constitutional order, economic stability, and the preservation of the rule of law,” the organisation stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Demand for hot stocks, including MRS Oil Plc, buoyed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.52 per cent on Tuesday, December 23.
The energy company was one of the three price gainers for the session as it chalked up N19.69 to sell at N216.59 per share versus the previous day’s value of N196.90 per share.
Further, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.95 to close at N56.75 per unit versus N53.80 per unit and Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 84 Kobo to N9.29 per share from Monday’s N8.45 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation went up by N10.95 billion to N2.125 trillion from N2.125 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 18.31 points to 3,570.37 points from 3,552.06 points.
Yesterday, the NASD bourse recorded a price loser, the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), which gave up 17 Kobo to close at N33.70 per unit against the previous trading value of N33.87 per unit.
The volume of securities traded at the session went down by 97.6 per cent to 297,902 units from the previous day’s 12.6 million units, the value of securities decreased by 98.5 per cent to N10.5 million from N713.6 million, and the number of deals remained flat at 32 deals.
By value, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended as the most actively traded stock on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units exchanged for N16.4 billion. This was followed by Okitipupa Plc, which traded 178.9 million units valued at N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.
In terms of volume, also on a year-to-date basis, InfraCredit Plc led the chart with a turnover of 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion. Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc ranked second with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, while Impresit Bakolori Plc followed with the sale of 536.9 million units valued at N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was another bullish trading session for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited as it closed higher by 0.59 per cent on Tuesday.
The market further rallied due to continued interest in large and mid-cap stocks on the exchange by investors rebalancing their portfolios for the year-end.
Yesterday, Aluminium Extrusion sustained its upward trajectory after it further appreciated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, as Austin Laz gained 9.81 per cent to close at N2.91, Custodian Investment improved by 9.69 per cent to N38.50, and First Holdco soared by 9.35 per cent to N50.30.
Conversely, Royal Exchange declined by 7.22 per cent to N1.80, Champion Breweries shrank by 6.57 per cent to N15.65, NASCON lost 5.36 per cent to trade at N105.05, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 5.28 per cent to N3.77, and Japaul went down by 4.51 per cent to N2.33.
At the close of business, 29 shares ended on the gainers’ table and 27 shares finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
This raised the All-Share Index (ASI) by 895.06 points to 153,354.13 points from 152,459.07 points and lifted the market capitalisation by N579 billion to N97.772 trillion from the previous day’s N97.193 trillion.
VFD Group finished the day as the busiest stock after it recorded a turnover of 192.0 million units worth N2.1 billion, GTCO exchanged 63.5 million units valued at N5.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 49.8 million units for N1.0 billion, First Holdco sold 45.8 million units valued at N2.3 billion, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 38.3 million units worth N28.4 million.
In all, market participants bought and sold 677.4 million units valued at N20.8 billion in 27,589 deals compared with the 451.5 million units worth N13.0 billion traded in 33,327 deals on Monday, showing an improvement in the trading volume and value by 50.03 per cent and 60.00 per cent apiece, and a shortfall in the number of deals by 17.22 per cent.
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