The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) has firmly responded to recent media reports questioning the state of the country’s CNG infrastructure, describing the headlines as alarmist and unfair to the progress made within the past year.
In an official statement released on Monday, the PCNGI defended the strides achieved so far, crediting the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the initiative’s swift implementation across Nigeria. Since its launch in May 2024, the initiative has seen a remarkable rise in CNG vehicle adoption, from fewer than 4,000 vehicles to over 50,000, with projections to hit 100,000 soon. The agency acknowledged that such growth has naturally led to increased demand at CNG stations, but insists that the rapid rise is proof the programme is working and resonating with Nigerians.
PCNGI noted that both private and public sector partners are actively developing infrastructure to match the rising demand. In Abuja, two new daughter stations have been commissioned by investors such as AY Shafa and Femadec. Both entities have 9 and 21 daughter stations respectively, with several more in the pipeline. Yola is witnessing increased activity, with Greenville advancing its rollout of LCNG stations across 51 locations, including hard-to-reach areas. Over 175 stations are being rolled out nationwide by various partners.
In other parts of the country, stations are springing up in cities like Ilorin, Port Harcourt, Ado Ekiti, Lokoja, Aba, and Enugu, with new facilities expected to become operational in some months. The PCNGI is backing partners to roll out 24 sites in the next 6-9 months, with one site already activated in Ilorin. NNPCL is adding eight more stations to its existing twelve and is in the process of completing forty more out of a hundred, as part of its second rollout phase. Bovas is on the verge of opening two new ultra-modern stations in Ibadan, while NIPCO is completing eight more to add to its existing network of twenty-three, which will be ready within 6 months.
Further boosting this momentum, the Midstream Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) recently awarded equity investments to ten new entrants, three of which are focused on developing CNG stations. In addition, four out of six of MDGIF’s ₦123 billion initial investments have been directed at CNG-related projects. In just one year, the sector has attracted over $500 million in investments and created more than 10,000 direct jobs. It has also seen the establishment of 255 new vehicle conversion centres and 53 daughter stations, all of which did not exist a year ago.
While acknowledging the current infrastructure gap, PCNGI stressed that such transformation takes time. Comparing the country’s decades-long dependency on petrol and diesel to the emerging switch to CNG, the agency appealed for patience and continued support.
“We plead patience with the skeptics,” said Engr. Michael O. Oluwagbemi, Program Director and Chief Executive of PCNGI. “Rome was not built in a day, and CNG will take more than a few days. ”
He criticised some media outlets, particularly Vanguard Newspaper, for overlooking the progress and choosing instead to focus on negative narratives. According to Oluwagbemi, such reporting ignores the fact that bi-fuel vehicles, which run on both petrol and CNG, offer major cost savings to users and are already reducing economic pressure on Nigerians.
Reaffirming its commitment to its mandate, the PCNGI concluded by stating it would continue working across the value chain to deliver the benefits of cleaner, more affordable energy as envisioned by the President.
Melissa Enoch
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