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The Federal Government’s plan to ban consumer ownership of Liquefied
Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders is aimed at enhancing safety and deepening
cooking gas penetration in the country, an official said on Tuesday.
Mr Dayo Adeshina, Programme Manager, National LPG Expansion and
Implementation Plan, spoke at the Nigeria LPG Summit 2019 on Tuesday in
Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit was jointly
organised by the Nigeria Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (NLPGA) and
Liquefied Petroleum Gas Summit, based in Singapore.
Adeshina said that the government would also continue to support the LPG
industry with fiscal policies and incentives to enable the
actualisation of its target of five million metric tonnes of LPG
consumption by Nigerians in 2023.
The LPG Programme Manager, who represented Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
but spoke in his personal capacity, said standardisation of LPG
cylinders and safe use in Nigerian homes could only be achieved when
ownership rests strictly with dealers and distributors.
He explained that cooking cylinders ought to be recertified
periodically, adding that the average life span of a cylinder was 15
years.
Adeshina said two investors with the support of the Standard
Organisation of Nigeria (SON) had indicated interest to establish
recertification plants in the country.
“That is why we need to retrieve some of these cylinders still in
circulation because we need to recertify them to ensure that they are
safe for usage.
“The government’s focus is to create awareness through sensitisation campaigns and cylinder injection programme,” he said.
Adeshina said the government would continue to act as an enabler for the
LPG industry to thrive and create a market viable for all the players
in its value chain.
According to him, Nigeria has made a giant stride in the LPG market with
about 70,000 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in 2007 to 624, 000 MPTA
as at September 2019.
He said this was made possible through the removal of five per cent
Value Added Tax on LPG and 25 per cent to 30 per cent Import Duty waiver
on LPG equipment and appliances.
Also, Mrs Neasa Hapiak, Director, LPG Summit, said many industry
stakeholders were paying attention to the Nigeria LPG market, noting
that there should be concrete steps to sustain the business in the
country.
Hapiak said this could be achieved with the collaboration of government
and LPG industry stakeholders as well as entrenching a culture of safety
and training of personnel in the industry.
Earlier in his address of welcome, Mr Nuhu Yakubu, President, NLPGA,
said the theme of the summit, ” LPG: Harmonising Development and Growth
in Nigeria and Africa,” was very apt.
“There is no better time to discuss the industry imperatives as it
relates to the federal government agenda to deepen the safe use of LPG
in Nigeria.
“This can be deduced from facts and figures that speak to the ever
dynamic and geometric growth which we have witnessed in the last
decade,” he said.