•Trucks on queue at a refilling centre in abuja last night
Drivers and owners of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered vehicles in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja; Lagos and Ogun states, and other parts of Nigeria are complaining about inadequate stations dispensing the product.
Some of them, who spoke to our correspondents, decried that the situation was forcing them to spend hours, sometimes entire nights, on long queues at filling stations, to power their vehicles, reports Daily Trust.
This is even as experts have called for expansion of CNG refilling infrastructure to address the crisis.
According to energy analysts, the current number of CNG stations is grossly inadequate for the rising demand, leading to long queues and supply bottlenecks.
But the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGi) said the government had no input in setting up CNG filling stations as it is private sector-driven.
The government had introduced CNG as a cheaper and cleaner alternative for Nigerians after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu removed the petrol subsidy in 2023, leading to a rise in prices of petroleum products.
The initiative includes offering free conversions for unionised commercial vehicles, subsidising CNG conversions for e-hailing taxis and providing loans to individuals to facilitate access.
The government, in July 2024, commissioned six refuelling stations to serve residents of Abuja and Lagos State.
Motorists speak
Speaking to our correspondents, an Uber driver, who resides at Area One in Abuja, Momoh Joseph, said: “You will not believe that I have been making efforts to refill my car for the past four days, but there is no gas in the station close to me at Durumi, Abuja, except I drive to NIPCO in Gosa along the Airport road.
“How can the government be pushing people to convert their cars without adequate preparation on how these cars will be refilled? We are having conversion centres everywhere, but no refilling station.”
Also, Chinedu Orji, a businessman at the Gudu Market in Abuja, said he had returned to using petrol to power his car due to the unavailability of CNG stations.
“Refilling my car with CNG is really cheap compared to fuel and I can tell you that I have saved some amount since I started using it. But getting it to buy is not as convenient as fuel so I had to switch. We have just this station here serving the whole of these areas,” Orji said.
Also, a resident of Zone One at the Wuse District, Bashir Musa, said he and other motorists always sleep at the NNPC filling stations just to get gas.
“I stay here and I know what is happening which is unfortunate, people sleep here just to get gas and spend man-hours instead of doing something meaningful with their lives,” he said.
Lagos
In Lagos State, CNG stations are located at Lateef Jakande, Agidingbi, Agege Motor Road, Mushin, and Lekki-Epe expressway, Sangotedo, Eti-Osa LGA and Mobile Road, Apapa.
And in Ogun, NIPCO CNG stations located in Ibafo along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway serve motorists from Lagos and Ogun.
The NIPCO CNG station along the highway appears to be the most patronised as major yellow commercial buses operating between Ogun and Lagos States make use of it, it was gathered.
The Secretary of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Ogun State, Aare Tiwalade Akingbade, told Daily Trust that lack of sufficient stations where motorists could refill without stress had been the major challenge of the CNG initiative.
“So far so good, our members are using the CNG. I think the only challenge is that there are no enough stations where they can refill with gas.
“There is no station in Abeokuta; the one that is available is along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. There is another one at Obada, and that is Ewekoro Local Government Area.
“Many of them go through stress to refill. And you can imagine someone who has to leave Abeokuta and go to Ibafo to refill. Those operating along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway are lucky, but what of those operating on other routes?” Akingbade asked.
The expert in transportation management also said some passengers were always sceptical to board CNG-powered vehicles.
“Some passengers are still sceptical boarding CNG powered vehicles. You see them looking at the trunk, asking ‘‘I hope this is not a CNG powered vehicle”, he said.
Some of the motorists confirmed that CNG is far cheaper than petrol. A civil servant in Abuja, who simply identified himself as Ahmed, said: “Before my car was converted to CNG, I was spending N35,000 weekly on petrol, but now, I don’t spend more than N6,600 on CNG every week. The size of my CNG cylinder is 65kg. I refill it twice or three times every week. The only challenge is the long queue because the stations selling CNG are very few.”
More CNG filling stations needed – Experts
Experts, who were interviewed by our correspondents, urged the Presidential Committee on CNG Initiative (PCNGI) to ensure expansion of these filling stations.
An energy expert, Joseph Osaremen, said: “Government ought to have put mechanism in place before championing the policy.
“You can’t start such a huge policy without enough gas filling stations. After all, the gas is being taken from Obajana, it shouldn’t be a problem for government to always ensure supply rather than make Nigerians suffer.”
He said as more conversion centres are springing up, more CNG filling stations should also be opened.
Another energy expert, Chidi Osakwe, noted that without adequate filling centres, Nigerians might drop the use of CNG, just as it would be difficult to convince others to embrace the policy.
He said big cities like Abuja, Kano and Lagos should have at least 30 CNG-filling stations each.
“Tell me the reason you spend more than N1 million to convert your vehicle and stay on a queue and sometimes overnight just to get gas. I think it is high time government expanded stations or Nigerians may ditch CNG,” he said.
Govt has no input in it – Presidential committee
The PCNGi’s Project Director and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Oluwagbemi, in an interview with our correspondent, noted that the CNG initiative is private sector-driven and requires a lot of time and money.
He stressed that the government has no input in establishing CNG stations.
“We understand the plight of Nigerians, but we want them to also understand that the initiative is private sector-driven and requires some time.
“Government has no input in it because it is private investors that are willing to put their money into the business and the part government plays is to ensure that everything is in order, then license them to operate.
“What Nigerians should appreciate is that over $480 million has been invested in the project. Two filling centres were opened last week and we expect four more in the coming weeks,” Oluwagbemi said.
He said the government was committed to partnering with the private sector to ensure that safety standards are adhered to and more filling centres come to life.
Kano drivers explain reluctance to convert
Checks by our correspondent in Kano showed that many drivers in the state have refused to convert their vehicles to CNG.
While there is one conversion centre located at Gundutse in Kura Local Government Area, motorists said they could not afford the cost of conversion. They also said that only one station located on the outskirts of the city is selling CNG.
Speaking, Usman Alhajiji, a commercial driver said, “I can’t waste my time. One, I don’t even believe in it! Are our vehicles engines designed to take it and work effectively? How about the safety and lifespan of the engines?
“Again, where can I find it when I want to refuel? I am even hearing about the conversion centre for the first time now.”
Another commercial driver, Idi Mu’azu, said, “How can you wake up just one day and say this is it? They should make the refuelling centres to be available everywhere first before we do any conversion.
“We don’t have the patience to travel extra kilometres away from the city to buy any fuel for any purpose. Let’s have it available and affordable then we can consider whether to key in or not.”
A firm, STATA logistics, said it was currently in talks with the state government to deploy at least 134 CNG-powered vehicles and establish six CNG stations in Kano.
