The house of representatives has asked the federal government to establish more compressed natural gas (CNG) conversion centres nationwide.
The green chamber passed the resolution during plenary on Thursday following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Sani Madaki, the minority whip.
In recent years, Nigeria has significantly expanded its CNG infrastructure to promote cleaner and more affordable energy alternatives.
The number of CNG conversion centres has grown in recent months, with plans to reach 500 by 2025.
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Leading the debate on the motion, Madaki said the presidential CNG initiative (Pi-CNG) proposed setting up one CNG conversion centre each in states like Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Ebonyi.
He added that more centres were allocated to others—Akwa Ibom, five; Delta, nine; Edo, eleven; Ekiti, seven; Enugu and Kogi, three each; Abuja, three; Kaduna, ten; Kwara, eight; Lagos, 70; Nasarawa, two; Ogun, seven; Oyo, 17; and Rivers, eight.
The lawmaker said from the above-listed centres, only Kaduna in the north-west is benefiting from the presidential initiative, while no state in the north-east is listed as a beneficiary.
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Madaki said states like Kano, Borno, Katsina, and Sokoto, which are commercially viable, are “exempted”.
The lawmaker said there is an urgent need to establish more centres in the north-west and north-east to facilitate legitimate business operations for all citizens.
Contributing to the debate, Yusuf Gagdi from Plateau state, said the north is being “marginalised” in the distribution of the conversion centres.
Lawmakers unanimously adopted the motion when Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, called for a voice vote.
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Consequently, the house urged the federal government to establish ensure “equitable” establishment of more conversation centres across the country.
The house resolved to set an ad hoc committee to investigate the alleged uneven distribution of CNG conversion centres in the country.
