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Nigeria’s supply of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) could soon surpass the availability of petrol as the Federal Government expands gas infrastructure and accelerates vehicle conversions across the country.
The Executive Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles, Ismaeel Ahmed, disclosed this during an interview on ARISE News on Monday.
Ahmed said the country had recorded significant progress in the adoption of CNG, with 96 refuelling stations, more than 400 conversion centres and about 120,000 vehicles already converted to run on the fuel.
“Very soon, Nigeria is going to be a country where we are going to outpace the availability for petrol,” Ahmed said.
He argued that the country should move towards reducing the dependence of commercial transport on petrol and diesel, suggesting that the government should consider making CNG or electric power mandatory for commercial vehicles.
Ahmed said the scale of CNG adoption had changed considerably since 2023, when Nigeria had fewer than 10 refuelling stations, about five conversion centres and just over 100 converted vehicles.
According to him, the growth recorded within three years makes Nigeria one of the countries experiencing rapid CNG adoption.
However, Ahmed said the next stage of the initiative would focus on ensuring that passengers, rather than only transport operators and businesses within the CNG value chain, benefit from the lower cost of the fuel.
“In 2.0, our drive is to say that the final destination is the passenger,” he said, stressing that transport operators who save between 60 and 70 per cent on fuel costs should pass the savings on to commuters.
He said the government was engaging state governments and transport stakeholders to ensure that cheaper CNG translates into more affordable transportation for Nigerians.
On the expansion of the conversion programme, Ahmed said the government initially supported free conversions to encourage motorists to adopt CNG while simultaneously building demand and developing the necessary infrastructure.
He said the government was now shifting its attention from proving the viability of CNG to expanding the programme on a much larger scale.
“Our focus right now—our focus is scale. The proof of concept has already been proven. People are moving in droves and converting in droves. Our point now is scale,” Ahmed said.
He noted that Nigeria has about 12 million vehicles, with commercial vehicles accounting for an estimated 55 to 60 per cent of the total.
Ahmed also explained that expanding CNG infrastructure required extensive supporting facilities, including gas sources, pipelines and compression networks.
He said the number of CNG refuelling stations had increased from about three or four in 2023 to 96, largely through private-sector investment.
The presidential initiative chairman also addressed safety concerns surrounding vehicle conversions, urging motorists to use only conversion centres approved by the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and kits certified by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
Ahmed warned against roadside conversions and the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas cylinders for CNG vehicles, describing such practices as hazardous.
“I am absolutely confident that whoever converts his or her vehicle under the approved conversion centre by NADDC, with the certified conversion kits by SON that we have accredited as well, will not have any problem with safety,” he said.
He further called for a broader transition from petrol and diesel, arguing that natural gas and electric vehicles could provide a cleaner and potentially cheaper transportation system while reducing Nigeria’s exposure to international oil price fluctuations.
“Natural gas should be our fuel of choice,” Ahmed said, adding that Nigeria could export more of its crude oil while relying on domestic gas for transportation.
