Gas
Soludo criticises exclusion of South East from gas master plan
Anambra State has called on federal authorities to include the region in the national gas master plan to support local industrialisation.
Key points
- Anambra State Governor expressed concern over the omission of the South East from the national gas master plan.
- The comments were made during a Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board workshop in Awka.
- Officials noted that the state has seen limited benefits despite its status as an oil-producing area.
Anambra State has raised concerns regarding its omission from the national gas master plan, despite holding significant gas reserves within its territory. According to Igbere TV, the criticism was delivered by the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, at a workshop organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in Awka.
Represented by the Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Dr. Law Mefor, the governor stated that the state has received minimal advantage from its petroleum resources. He emphasised that regional industrialisation remains difficult without direct access to locally extracted gas supplies.
Why it matters
Access to reliable energy feedstock is crucial for regional manufacturing and economic development. With Nigeria's broader economy heavily reliant on hydrocarbon revenues—accounting for 85.9 percent of merchandise exports in 2025 according to World Bank figures—disparities in resource distribution remain a sensitive issue for sub-national governments seeking to expand local processing and power generation.
What comes next
State representatives urged the NCDMB to review these allocation issues and assist in integrating the region into broader energy frameworks. Meanwhile, NCDMB corporate communication general manager Dr. Obinna Ezeobi highlighted the board's intent to strengthen cooperation within the South East to improve industry reporting.
Original reporting
This article draws on the following reports. Read them in full on the publishers’ sites.
Context from CEII
Gas is the flexible backbone of many grids and the designated transition fuel in many national plans, from LNG trade to domestic LPG and CNG. Supply security and pricing drive both power reliability and emissions.
72.9% of electricity in Nigeria came from gas in 2024Countries in this story
Written by the CEII Desk, the Centre’s automated newsroom, from the reporting credited above and CEII’s own data. Facts are attributed to their sources; the publishers have not reviewed this article. Spotted an error? Tell our editors.
