By Gloria Ikibah
Some northern lawmakers have expressed worries over the none availability of Compressed Natural Gas conversion centres in the North-East and North-West geopolitical zones.
The lawmakers stated this during the consideration of a motion by the Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Aliyu Madaki, titled “Call to establish more compressed natural gas conversion centres across Nigeria”, on Thursday at plenary.
Rep. Madaki who represents Dala Federal Constituency of Kano State, recalled that in the implementation of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, the Federal Government distributed CNG conversion kits across the country.
He stated that the advantages of the conversion to CNG are enormous, and said “It will bring down the cost of living in Nigeria and reduce air and noise pollution, which makes it environmentally friendly.
“CNG burns more cleanly than the Premium Motor Spirit, which means less carbon buildup in the engine, thus reducing the need for frequent engine repairs and prolonging the life of engine components;
“The House is aware that vehicles powered by CNG experience less wear and tear on critical components such as spark plugs and exhaust systems.”
“For the take-off of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, the Federal Government proposed to establish CNG conversion Centres in some states, including Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Ebonyi, with one centre each.
“Akwa Ibom has five centres, Delta- centres, Edo-11 centres, Ekiti seven centres, Enugu and Kogi with three centres each.
“The Federal Capital Territory has three centres, Kaduna 10 centres, Kwara eight centres, Lagos 70 centres, while Nasarawa has two, Ogun has seven, Oyo with 17 and Rivers has eight centres”, he said.
The Deputy Minority Leader queired that in the North West, only one state Kaduna, is benefiting from the presidential initiative, while no State in the North East is listed as a beneficiary.
“We are worried about the exemption of other states from the initiative, as commuters of those states are not taken into consideration, states like Kano, Borno, Katsina, and Sokoto, which are commercially viable, are exempted”, he emphasised.
Madaki therefore called on the Federal Government to establish more CNG conversion centres in the North-West and North-East to facilitate legitimate business operations for all citizens.
Contributing to the motion, Rep. Sada Soli,member representing Jibia/Kaita Federal Constituency of Katsina State, said that in the establishment of the CNG centres, the North-East was completely ignored.
He said, “The North-East was completely ignored, the same with the North-West. The CNG Presidential initiative was to assuage the pains of Nigerians over the removal of fuel subsidy.
“We need to find out why many corridors in the North and cities were exempted from the allocation of CNG centres. I do believe that this initiative, instead of addressing a problem, is creating a lot of problems in the country.”
Also Rep. Ahmed Jaha, member representing Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza Federal Constituency argued: “If there is any place that deserves these CNG centres, it is the North-East. There is no single CNG centre in the whole of the North-East.
“I want to commend the President for initiating this presidential initiative to cut costs and improve the standard of living of all Nigerians. But the policy implementers should bear at the back of their mind that if one region of a nation has issues, the remaining regions cannot sleep with their two eyes closed. It’s because of the neglect in the past of the North-East sub-region that led to what is happening now in the country.
“We have Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of criminality, because even before then, the North-East used to be the poorest region in the nation, and they were neglected. Instead of the nation giving attention to the North-East, so that other parts of the country can remain in peace, the North-East was neglected. This is why we have insurgency and insecurity in the North Central, North-West and other parts of the country”.
Rep. Olumide Osoba (APC, Ogun) in his contribution, said some advanced nations are already moving away from CNG to Hybrid Vehicles (HV), preparatory to migration to Electric Vehicles (EV).
Rep. Osoba called on the Federal Government to think more about the area of electric cars for cleaner energy.
Also Rep. Kafilat Ogbara, member representing Kosofe Federal Constituency of Lagos State, want an all-inclusive ad-hoc committee of members from the various zones to monitor the implementation of the Presidential Initiative on CNG.
“I will advise that the committee on Gas Resources should include members from all the regions, whether they are in that committee or not, so that as honourable members, we will be able to monitor these things and oversee them in our constituencies properly,” she stated.
Apart from resolving to set up the ad-hoc committee, the House urged the Federal Government to establish Compressed Natural Gas Conversion centres equitably across the country to give Nigerians a sense of belonging.
The House unanimously adopted the motion and mandated the Committee on Gas Resources to ensure compliance and report within four weeks for further legislative action.
