The Nigerian market is flooded with off-specification Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas) imported from Niger Republic, according to the Nigerian Association of LPG Marketers.
Our correspondent gathered that some members of the association had been sourcing cooking gas from Niger Republic because it was cheaper than the one from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited and the refineries.
Unlike locally-sourced LPG, which contains less dangerous Butane, it was gathered that LPG sourced from Niger had a higher proportion of the highly explosive propane, which is very dangerous to consumers.
Speaking during the Annual General Meeting of NALPGM in Lagos on Tuesday, the outgoing President, Mr. Mouruff Onabule, confirmed the circulation of the dangerous LPG.
He said some marketers were using the cheap LPG from Niger Republic to 'blend' the more expensive one from Nigeria in order to make huge profits not minding the threat to safety.
He acknowledged that the LPG currently being supplied by the NLNG was very expensive and called on the Federal Government to intervene to crash the price.
In view of the danger posed by the sale of off-spec LPG to consumers, Onabule warned NALPGM members to desist from patronising Niger Republic.
Speaking in the same vein, the National President, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Reps Association of Nigeria, Mr. Odo Gbolahan, explained that the pressure of the gas imported from Niger was four times higher than the cooking gas used in Nigeria.
He said, "The propane gas they are bringing from the Niger axis is four times the pressure of the gas that is meant to be used in Nigeria. The propane gas is meant to be used in the Western world with cold climate because the rate at which the LPG will be evaporating in that place is very low. The propane is not meant for Nigeria with hot climate because the pressure can burst cylinders and hoses.
"We welcome and recognise the importers of LPG through the land borders because they help to crash the price in the local market. This is because the one they are bringing from that axis is very cheap. But at the same time, the welfare of our people should be more important to us than the money anybody is making."
Gbolahan, who said it was good to do business in a competitive environment, noted, however, that the composition of the LPG being imported from Niger Republic was highly dangerous.
He said because of the poor quality of the LPG, the product was being sold at cheap prices in Nigeria.
Off-spec cooking gas from Niger has continued to be a problem in Nigeria and not much has been done to reverse the trend.
The Chairman, LPG Group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Bambo Ademiluyi, who spoke to The PUNCH last year, had said the Niger-sourced LPG contained 45 per cent propane and 55 per cent butane.
He said the 55 per cent propane content was very high and was characterised by intense pressure.
"Propane is stored at a higher pressure. Most of our vessels, tanks and cylinders are not designed to store that level of propane. We are not used to such level of pressure," he had said.
