Hike in Kerosene Price: Expert tasks FGN on timely intervention
A report by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown that the price of Kerosene may go up again from its current price across states.
A former Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Muda Yusuf, has charged the Federal Government of Nigeria to intervene in the commodity price hike immediately.
Yusuf in an interview with Punch said unless the government intervenes to bring down the costs of the product quickly, it may aggravate the suffering of the poor masses.
“The astronomical increase in the price of cooking kerosene will further aggravate the poverty situation in the country. Household kerosene is not a luxury. It is a necessity. It is bad enough that we are grappling with high food inflation, and now there is an additional burden of an escalating cost of cooking the food.
“So for the average Nigerian and the poor, this is an added burden, and obviously, the impact on poverty will be very profound,” Yusuf was quoted saying.
Based on the NBS report, average Nigerians may not be able to afford household kerosene again as the commodity price has risen by 118 per cent in the last 12 months.
According to the National Household Kerosene report of the NBS for September, the average retail price per litre of the product rose by 118 per cent to N947 from N434 recorded in September 2021.
The report revealed that the average retail price per litre of HHK paid by consumers in September 2022 was N947, indicating an increase of 17 per cent compared to N809 recorded in August 2022.
A breakdown of the report showed that on state profile analysis, the highest average price per litre in September 2022 was recorded in Enugu with N1,272, followed by Ebonyi with N1,264 and Cross River with N1,186.
On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Rivers with N686, followed by Bayelsa with N715 and Nasarawa with N735. In addition, analysis by zone showed that the South-East recorded the highest average retail price per litre of the product with N1,128, followed by the South-West with N1,068, while the North-West recorded the lowest with N869.
The average retail price per gallon of the products paid by consumers in September 2022 according to the NBS report was N3,236.
The figure shows an increase of 10 per cent from N2,948 in August 2022. On a year-on-year basis, it increased by 110 per cent from N1,541 in September 2021.
Also, Abuja recorded the highest average retail price per gallon of cooking kerosene with N4,200, followed by Abia with N4,078 and Enugu with N4,052, according to the report. On the other hand, Borno recorded the lowest price with N2,500, followed by Zamfara and Delta with N2,555 and N2,577, respectively.
