The Federal Government is targeting the deployment of another 500 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) infrastructure units as Nigeria expands its alternative fuel programme, with approximately $2.6 billion in private-sector investments committed to developing the sector.
Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (Pi-CNG), Ismaeel Ahmed, disclosed this on Friday during the inauguration of a CNG Integrated Refuelling Unit in Karu, Abuja.
Ahmed said about 160 CNG refuelling stations were currently operational nationwide, while another 170 facilities were undergoing development or awaiting regulatory approvals from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
He said President Bola Tinubu had directed another phase of infrastructure expansion through the MDGIF, targeting approximately 500 additional infrastructure units to accelerate nationwide access to CNG.
According to Ahmed, the growing number of investors and operational facilities indicates that the programme has moved beyond its initial demonstration phase and is now focused on expanding capacity to meet demand.
“This is not a proof of concept any longer. It is not the beginning. It is a scale thing,” he said, adding that Nigeria's population of about 220 million people and an estimated 12 million vehicles required faster infrastructure deployment.
He also urged more private investors to participate, noting that the country's existing network of approximately 24,000 petrol stations took six decades to develop and was largely established through private investment.
The Pi-CNG chief executive said the expansion of CNG-powered transportation was already delivering savings for commuters, with bus operations reducing fares by between 30% and 40% on some routes.
He cited transportation services in Abuja, Lagos and Kano, including the Kano-Katsina route, where passengers were reportedly paying considerably less than previous fares following the introduction of CNG-powered buses.
The latest expansion drive forms part of the Federal Government's effort to promote natural gas as a more affordable transportation fuel following the removal of petrol subsidies in 2023, which significantly increased transport expenses.
At the inauguration, Permanent Secretary of the State House, Temitope Fashedemi, said the newly commissioned facility demonstrated how government-owned infrastructure could be repurposed to support the transition to alternative fuels without requiring direct public funding for the investment.
He explained that the project involved converting an abandoned petrol station belonging to the State House into a CNG refuelling and vehicle conversion centre.
Under the arrangement, the State House provided the existing facility, while Rolling Energy financed its rehabilitation and the installation of the required equipment.
Fashedemi said the partnership was designed to demonstrate how public institutions could facilitate private-sector investment by making existing infrastructure available for alternative energy projects.
Chief Executive Officer of Rolling Energy, Mubarak Danbatta, also described the facility as an example of how cooperation between government institutions and private investors could support the development of Nigeria's CNG infrastructure.
Ahmed said the government would continue encouraging entrepreneurs to invest in refueling facilities and related infrastructure as the programme expands to serve more motorists and commercial transport operators.
