The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mr. Bayo Ojulari, has attributed the recent increase in cooking gas prices across the country to last week’s strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
Speaking with State House correspondents, Ojulari explained that the industrial action disrupted operations, halting loading and distribution for several days, which caused a temporary rise in prices.
“The increase you saw was relatively artificial because for the period of the strike, movements and loading were delayed by about two, three days. And because of that, you see that impact. As things return back to normal, it takes some time for distribution to be fully restored.”
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He added that some retailers exploited the supply delay to increase prices.
“As you know, in Nigeria, people take opportunity. With that delay, some of the people that had existing resources and reserves had to put up the price,” he said.
Ojulari assured Nigerians that prices would soon stabilise as supply returns to normal.
“My expectation is that now that things are back to normal, prices should return to what they were before the strike,” he said.
The price surge came after PENGASSAN embarked on an industrial action to protest the dismissal of Nigerian workers at the Dangote Refinery.