The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has approved 80 standards covering compressed natural gas (CNG) as part of efforts to regulate the country’s growing CNG value chain and ensure the safe adoption of the alternative fuel.
The standards cover different aspects of the CNG ecosystem, including vehicle conversion kits, electrical connections, vehicle diagnostics, roadworthiness, vehicle safety, storage vessels and refuelling stations.
The Director-General of SON, Dr Ifeanyi Okeke, disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja during the 2026 World Standards Day celebration, where he stressed the importance of standards in ensuring the safety, reliability and efficiency of technologies supporting Nigeria’s energy transition.
The event, held at Wuse Market, Abuja, had the theme, “Standards: Vision for a Better World – Spotlight on SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy.”
Okeke said standards were essential to ensuring that alternative energy technologies were safe, reliable and suitable for their intended purposes, adding that the transition to cleaner energy required more than introducing new fuels and equipment.
“Access to affordable, reliable and clean energy is essential to industrial growth, innovation, job creation and improved quality of life,” he said.
“Standards have a critical role to play in ensuring that technologies, products and systems supporting this transition are safe, efficient, reliable and fit for purpose. What that simply means is that without standards, we cannot get affordable and reliable energy.”
He said SON had continued to develop and adopt standards across strategic sectors, including energy management, transportation, food safety and healthcare, while supporting the Federal Government’s efforts to promote CNG as an alternative to petrol and diesel.
“Our commitment to Nigerian energy transition is further demonstrated by the development and approval of standards for CNG. As a matter of fact, we approved 80 standards in 2024, covering areas including CNG conversion kits, electrical connections, vehicle diagnostics, roadworthiness and vehicle safety,” Okeke said.
He added that the standards also covered CNG storage vessels and refuelling stations, providing requirements for different components of the value chain.
“These standards are critical to ensuring that the deployment of CNG as an alternative fuel is undertaken safely, reliably and in accordance with the established requirements,” he said.
The Federal Government has promoted CNG as part of efforts to expand the use of alternative fuels and reduce dependence on petrol and diesel. However, the safe deployment of the technology depends on appropriate vehicle conversions, compliant storage equipment, properly designed refuelling infrastructure and effective inspection.
Okeke said SON’s responsibility was to ensure that products and systems introduced into the market met established requirements, giving consumers confidence in their safety and performance.
The agency is also promoting energy efficiency through its SON Mandatory Energy Labelling Scheme and Minimum Energy Performance Standards, known as SONMEL. The initiative is designed to provide consumers with information about the energy performance of electrical appliances before purchase.
The SON chief said the scheme would help consumers distinguish between products that might be cheaper to buy initially and those that would cost less to operate over time.
He explained that some appliances with lower purchase prices could consume more electricity, ultimately increasing household and business expenses.
According to him, energy labels would provide information to guide consumers’ purchasing decisions and help them assess the long-term operating costs of electrical and electronic products.
Okeke acknowledged that manufacturers could face challenges transitioning from older technologies to more energy-efficient production systems, as the process might require investment in new equipment, training, research and development.
He, however, urged manufacturers to consider the long-term benefits of adopting more efficient technologies, noting that the transition was necessary to improve energy performance and reduce operating costs.
The SON chief also urged marketers, traders and business owners to stock and sell products bearing appropriate SON certification marks.
“The SON certification logos are a symbol of quality, safety, and conformity with approved standards. I therefore encourage you to make it a point of duty to buy, stock, and sell only products that carry appropriate SON certification logos,” he said.
Okeke said the organisation was changing its logo to make certified products easier for consumers to identify and distinguish from products without the required approval.
He added that SON was expanding its digital services to improve access to standards and strengthen efforts to identify counterfeit and substandard goods.
According to him, the agency had launched a digital standards platform to enable standards-related processes to be conducted electronically and allow users to access standards online.
He also highlighted the Product Authentication and Tracking System, which he said would enable consumers to use their mobile phones to verify the authenticity of products.
The system is intended to make product verification easier by reducing the need for consumers to contact the agency directly to establish whether a product is genuine.
The agency also said its SON Conformity Assessment Programme and import permit processes had been migrated to the National Single Window to make legitimate trade more efficient and transparent.
Okeke said standards were important not only for consumer protection but also for fair competition, industrial development and international trade.
He explained that common requirements provided producers and trading partners with a clear understanding of the quality expected of goods, while helping prevent businesses selling inferior products from gaining an unfair advantage over manufacturers that complied with established requirements.
He added that standards helped build consumer confidence and encouraged repeat patronage by assuring buyers that products met recognised quality requirements.
At the event, the President of the Female Farmers Apex Cooperative Society, Dr Maimuna Habib, called for greater access to affordable clean-energy technologies for women in agriculture, livestock production and market trading.
Habib, a veterinarian and former Chief Veterinary Officer of Nigeria, said reliable energy could help women farmers reduce post-harvest losses, preserve food quality, improve productivity and increase their earnings.
She said solar-powered refrigeration, clean energy for agro-processing and reliable renewable energy systems could help women preserve agricultural products and improve their businesses.
Habib urged SON, government agencies, financial institutions and development partners to work together to make quality-assured clean-energy technologies more affordable and accessible to women farmers, livestock producers and market traders.
She also recalled that her office constructed a shed at Wuse Market for Fulani women selling nono, or fresh cow’s milk, while she served as Nigeria’s first female Chief Veterinary Officer.
