When President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy in 2023, his administration’s pivot to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) was touted as the country’s next big leap. A cleaner, cheaper, and more sustainable alternative to petrol and diesel.
But more than a year later, the statistics tell a sobering story. Nigeria, a nation of over 200 million people, has fewer than 50 operational CNG compression stations. The numbers, released by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, lay bare the yawning gap between ambition and infrastructure.
Speaking at the recent NAEC summit in Lagos, Ahmed warned that Nigeria’s pace of CNG development was dangerously slow, despite the government’s grand declarations about transitioning to cleaner fuels. He revealed that while there are about 3,000 cooking gas (LPG) refilling plants across the country, there are barely 50 for CNG. This figure is grossly inadequate for the government’s vision of nationwide adoption.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government continues to present the CNG drive as a success story. According to officials of the Presidential CNG Initiative, more than 100,000 petrol-powered vehicles have been converted to CNG in the past year, and over 60 refuelling stations are “operational” nationwide, with 175 more reportedly “underway.”
However, the situation on the ground paints a different picture. Motorists in cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Benin still queue for hours at the few functional CNG stations. Prices are far from stable, with one standard cubic metre now selling for between ₦380 and ₦450, almost double the rate from just a few months ago.
For an initiative meant to ease the pain of subsidy removal, CNG is fast becoming another privilege rather than a relief.
The truth is that the gap between rhetoric and reality runs deeper than infrastructure. It extends into financing, regulatory clarity, and investor confidence. Nigeria’s gas sector, despite its enormous potential, remains a victim of policy inconsistency. Successive governments have over-promised and under-delivered, introducing bold energy roadmaps without backing them with the infrastructure, incentives, or political will required for execution.
Ahmed’s candour at the summit was a rare moment of honesty from within government ranks. He called for urgent diversification of Nigeria’s energy mix and increased private investment in gas infrastructure, noting that “a constructive approach to developing our other energy sources would have the potential to enable sustained growth in our economy, create jobs and expand the country’s revenue base.”
But such investment will not come where policy uncertainty reigns. Investors are wary of a regulatory environment that changes with every administration, pricing regimes that lack transparency, and gas policies that are heavy on political symbolism but light on delivery.
The current administration must also confront the class and regional inequalities embedded in its energy policy. While CNG expansion is more visible in southern urban centres, rural and northern areas remain largely excluded. A truly national energy transition cannot be built on urban convenience.
Then there is the cost barrier for ordinary Nigerians. Converting a petrol engine to CNG can cost anywhere between ₦500,000 and ₦1.2 million. This is a near-impossible sum for the average commercial driver already battling inflation and poor income. Without affordable financing options or conversion subsidies, CNG adoption will remain limited to fleet owners and government projects.
Energy transition must be more than a media narrative. Countries like India and Brazil built their CNG economies through massive public-private partnerships, price stability, and widespread consumer incentives. Nigeria, by contrast, is attempting to leap into the future on the back of press releases and pilot projects.
To truly earn the trust of citizens, the government must close the credibility gap and fast. That means accelerating investment in CNG infrastructure, streamlining regulations, guaranteeing stable pricing, and involving the private sector meaningfully. Above all, it must show results, not rhetoric.
Until then, Nigeria’s taunted CNG revolution will remain exactly that: a revolution spoken, not seen.
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