The federal government will inject five to 10 million bottles of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) into the market over the next year, according to Mr Dayo Adeshina, program director, National Expansion Implementation Plan. LPG.
He made this known on Wednesday in Lagos, during an awareness workshop on the adoption and implementation of LPG for industry stakeholders. Adeshina said this is aimed at improving safety and deepening the use of LPG, also known as cooking gas, in the country.
He said the National LPG Expansion Implementation Plan, domiciled in the office of the Vice President, is committed to meeting Nigeria‘s target of five million metric tonnes of LPG consumption per year d ‘by 2027.
Adeshina said,
‘The federal government is working to bring five to 10 million bottles of cooking gas into the market within a year. We are starting cylinder injection as part of the first phase in 11 pilot and FCT states, with two states from each of the geopolitical areas. The states are Lagos, Ogun, Bauchi, Gombe, Katsina, Sokoto, Delta, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Enugu, Niger and the Federal Capital Territory. The cylinders will be injected by the distributors. The traders will be responsible for the bottles and the exchange will take place at home and not at gas stations. This means that in the future the bottles will no longer be held by individuals but by marketers who will ensure that they are safe for use.’
Adeshina said Nigeria has a gas reserve of 203TCF, adding that the government is keen to work with stakeholders to ensure its use for development purposes.
He said that apart from household consumption, the government is also moving to increase the use of LPG in agriculture, transportation and manufacturing. According to him, this will allow the country to reduce its CO2 emissions by around 20% and create millions of jobs for Nigerians.
Adeshina said that in addition to infrastructure investments, the government also granted exemptions on the import of LPG equipment and removed the value-added tax (VAT) on LPG.
Mr Ahaziah Suleiman, Executive Director, News, Voices of Nigeria, said the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture has deployed various communication tools to educate Nigerians about adopting LPG as the fuel of choice.
Suleiman said jingles have been produced in indigenous languages to educate Nigerians, especially in pilot states of the program, on the benefits of switching to cooking gas.
Mr Nuhu Yakubu, president of the Nigerian Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association, said efforts should be made to ensure the availability, accessibility and affordability of cooking gas in the country.
Yakubu said this would encourage more Nigerians to embrace the use of gas in their homes with the attendant benefits for the country. Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources Olalere Odusote said the government is determined to step up gas use in the state.
Odusote said the people of Lagos are forcing locals to adopt cleaner energy sources for cooking, transportation and power generation. He said the state owns around four million vehicles, adding that the government is aiming to convert 45% of them to autogas over a four-year period in partnership with marketers.
Odusote said the government is also encouraging cross-linking of LPG in areas across the state and allowing LPG retailers to improve standards.
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