THE Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Bayo Ojulari, has linked the recent surge in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas, to the nationwide strike action by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
Ojulari made this known to State House correspondents on Sunday after a courtesy visit to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Videos circulating on social media show Nigerians queuing in some cities to buy LPG. According to media reports, the price of LPG per litre has increased to between ₦2,000 and ₦2,300.
According to him, the spike in prices was temporary and largely “artificial,” caused by delays in product movement and loading during the strike period.
“The increase you saw was relatively artificial because, for the period of the strike, what that meant was movements and loading were delayed by about two, three days,” Ojulari explained.
“And because of that, you see that impact as things return to normal. It takes some time for distribution to be fully restored. And of course, as you know, in Nigeria, people take the opportunity. With that delay, some of the people who have existing resources and reserves had to put up the price.”
He, however, expressed optimism that the market would soon stabilise as normal operations resume.
“I expect that now that things are back to normal, prices should return to what they were before the strike,” the NNPC boss added.
Background
Ojulari’s comments follow the temporary suspension of the nationwide strike by PENGASSAN on October 1, 2025, after an intense intervention by the Federal Government.
The ICIR reported that the industrial action, which began on September 28, 2025, was triggered by disputes between the union and the Dangote Refinery over the alleged dismissal of more than 800 Nigerian workers who had unionised, and their replacement with foreign nationals.
The standoff escalated when PENGASSAN ordered its members to cut gas and crude oil supplies to the refinery, resulting in a significant drop in electricity generation nationwide.
By September 30, the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) confirmed that the strike had forced several gas-powered plants offline, reducing national power generation by about 1,100 megawatts and plunging cities such as Lagos and Abuja into darkness.
Following negotiations mediated by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi, PENGASSAN agreed to suspend the strike after reaching a truce with the refinery’s management and the government.
However, the union warned that it would immediately resume the industrial action if any part of the agreement was breached.
“We are only suspending, not calling off this strike,” he said, adding that “If any part of this agreement is broken, we will not give any warning. We will immediately resume our suspended industrial action.”
Recall that as part of the truce, the Federal Government earlier announced that workers recently disengaged by the refinery will be redeployed to other subsidiaries within the Dangote Group.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi, disclosed this in Abuja, confirming that the affected staff would retain their salaries and benefits.
“After examining the procedure used in the disengagement of workers, the meeting agreed that the management of Dangote Group shall immediately begin the process of redeploying the disengaged staff to other companies within the group, with no loss of pay. No worker will be victimised arising from their role in the impasse between Dangote and PENGASSAN,” Dingyadi said.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M