The Federal Government, through the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, has said about 175 new Compressed Natural Gas refilling stations will be ready in the next 12 to 18 months.
The PCNGI Programme Coordinator, Michael Oluwagbemi, disclosed this in a video shared on the PCNGI’s X handle on Sunday.
According to him, the 175 stations will reduce the stress faced by Nigerians in accessing CNG.
Oluwagbemi expressed satisfaction that the nation has moved from 11 CNG stations last year to 65 in 2025.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that we are in a much better place than we were when we kicked off this programme this time last year. When we started in January of last year, there were fewer than 11 functional CNG stations in Nigeria. Most of them lacked customers because people did not know about CNG as a potential fuel for transportation. Today, we’re in a much different place.
“We’ve used the better part of last year to kick off a very intense conversion programme after an intense awareness campaign that took us across the country. We’ve brought in stakeholders, especially the transport unions. We’ve worked with MDAs, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian police, the Navy, and the Air Force,” he stated.
The coordinator explained that it had worked with various stakeholders like commercial vehicle owners and companies owning trailers like BUA and Dangote, saying this has brought about a tremendous increase in the number of CNG vehicles in Nigeria, and that created a new problem.
“Now, the new problem is how do we ensure we get CNG to everybody as quickly as possible? So, we’ve gone from fewer than 11 refuelling stations to more than 65. In addition to that, we have about 175 of them under development. Some directly through our own direct collaboration. For example, with the Midstream Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, we have a collaboration to ensure that over 35 new stations are developed.
“We have a collaboration with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, where NNPC is bringing in 120, of which about 12 are already commissioned; eight should be commissioned before the end of this quarter. And then, they’ve already awarded 40 out of the next phase of 90 to be commissioned in the next 12 to 18 months.
“So, there’s an ongoing collaboration across the space that will see us have an additional 175 new stations in the next 12 to 18 months. And that is good,” he announced.
Oluwagbemi spoke about the plan to get gas to the northern part of the country as quickly as possible.
“The northernmost point of gas delivery today in Nigeria is Ajaokuta. So, that means that for you to move gas beyond Ajaokuta, you have two options it is either you go with CNG, which is limited to 250 to 300km from Ajaokuta, or you go with LNG, which can take you farther. The current CNG capacity can be reached, maybe to Kaduna. And that’s why today, our presence is in Kaduna in the northernmost part of it. But about a month ago, we signed a groundbreaking transaction that will see to the establishment of an LNG mini plant in Ajaokuta.
“And that will allow the sector to truck LNG, which can go way more than 250 kilometres, to 1,000 kilometres – even all the way to Accra, from Ajaokuta to the rest of Nigeria. So, that, I think, is the most consequential transaction and project that we’re doing currently to ensure that we have gas all across the north faster than we would otherwise have got it if we waited for the AKK pipeline, which, of course, is under construction but 72 per cent complete.
“So, what we’re doing now is let’s focus on how do we get that gas to Jigawa, to Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, Kebbi, Maiduguri, Yobe, Bauchi, Benue, and make sure that this gas can get there quickly in the next 18 months,” he added.
On vehicle conversion, he noted that thousands of vehicles have been converted since January last year.
“There are three levels of conversion programmes ongoing. We have the government programme, which is, of course, what we call the Commercial Incentive Programme, in which we collaborate with the private sector. Over 12,000 conversions have taken place in that programme since January, and it’s ongoing. Every week, we are getting between 1,500 and 2,000 conversions going on today.
“Of course, private sector conversions are going on. Almost four times of that is ongoing in the private sector. People are using their own money, getting financed, and getting their cars converted. Then, we have corporate companies like BUA and Dangote.
“We’re expecting our conversion incentive programme that the government is running in collaboration with the transport unions and commercial operators, as well as some critical stakeholders, to convert 100,000 this year easily. And it will probably exceed it a little bit. And if you think about it, the private sector is doing twice that, three times that,” he narrated.
The PCNGI boss stressed that seven CNG mother stations were unveiled between 2024 and 2025.
“We have seven new mother stations that were commissioned between last year and this year. One of them is almost complete in Ikorodu, and we’ll be launching that in the next two weeks as well. Each of these mother stations costs between $5m to $10m. And seven of them will be $70m. So, you can see how these numbers are adding up.
“We are talking about investments in vehicle assembly and manufacturing. We’re talking about investments in cylinder manufacturing. A company in Ikorodu has launched an alloy steel pipeline company that can develop seamless pipes that can be used to manufacture CNG cylinders. All of these are direct investments in the sector. The investment chain is long, and we’re enabling it. Ultimately, I think the good news is that the private sector has keyed into this programme.
“And we’re working very much with them to ensure that any red tape, any regulation that is standing in their way, we take it out and we ensure that this money comes into the economy; it employs our people and enables clean and cheaper transportation,” he said.
