Nigerians have reeled out the benefits of Compressed Natural Gas-powered vehicles as an alternative to premium motor spirit, petrol.
Some Abuja residents, who spoke with GOSSIP UNION on Monday said they saved at least N36,000 weekly after conversion to CNG from petrol.
Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in August 2023 established the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI), targeting over 11,500 new CNG-enabled vehicles and 55,000 CNG conversion kits for existing PMS-dependent vehicles.
In November 2024, PCNGI Project Director/CEO, Michael Oluwagbemi said they converted over 100,000 vehicles to CNG or bi-fuel configurations and made a $200 million infrastructural investment in the initiative.
According to him, CNG conversion costs between N300,000 and 600,000 with government intervention, but costs over N1,000,000 without government intervention.
A few days ago, Nipco Gas Limited announced the conversion of 15,000 vehicles.
Meanwhile, efforts on Monday to contact Oluwagbemi on the exact number of beneficiaries of the PCNGi were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
Nigerians recount benefits of CNG
However, Chinoso Akatobi-Michael, a public servant and Abuja resident, said CNG had saved her N36,000 weekly.
According to her, before conversion to CNG, she spent N40,000 weekly on fuel, but that dropped to N4,000.
However, she lamented the delays experienced in the gas filling of CNG in Abuja, noting that there were few CNG dispensing stations in Abuja.
“I can say for a fact that CNG is more beneficial and cost-effective to me than petrol. Since I converted my vehicle to CNG, I have saved N36,000 weekly spent on fuel.
“I used to buy N40,000 fuel weekly, but now I fill up my cylinder with N4,000, and it lasts me for a week.
“However, there is the challenge of gas filling. There are few CNG fuel stations in Abuja at the moment. Most of the time, I spent a lot of time queuing to fill my car’s cylinder, and I have to do that twice a week,” she stated.
Kunle Adebayo, a corporate driver in Abuja, said that CNG is more beneficial to him than petrol.
He explained that since he converted his vehicle to CNG, he spent N5000 to refill his CNG cylinder weekly instead of N50,000 spent on petrol.
“Since I converted to CNG, expenditure on fuel has drastically dropped. I used to fill my tank with N50,000 for a week, but now I fill the CNG cylinder with N5,000 maximum for a week.
“This means I have saved N45,000. I wish the government would do more to ensure that more Nigerians convert their vehicles to CNG.
“He, however, observed that CNG conversion had somehow weakened his car’s engine.
“My car performs better on petrol than CNG from my observation,” he told GOSSIP UNION.
PETROAN insists CNG superior, calls for more government intervention
In an exclusive interview with GOSSIP UNION, The Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association national president, Billy Gillis-Harry emphasised that CNG is a superior alternative to petrol in terms of cost.
He, however, stated that the cost of establishing a CNG plant has been a major problem for the initiative.
According to him, the challenge of CNG is one of the reasons PETROAN has advocated for a N100 billion intervention for its members.
“No doubt CNG is a superior alternative to petrol; that is why we are pushing for it.
“However, the major challenge is the cost of setting up a CNG station; that is why we are asking the government for a N100 billion intervention.
“The government must take the CNG initiative more seriously because it benefits Nigerians more in terms of cost when compared with petrol,” he stated.
Challenges of CNG in Nigeria
It is not yet uhuru on CNG adoption in Nigeria. The majority of Nigerians still use petrol-powered vehicles, which cost between N1000 and N945 per litre.
Billy Gillis-Harry believed that the cost of establishing a CNG station is a major impediment to its spread and acceptance in Nigeria.
For Akatobi-Michael and Kunle, the major problem of CNG is the delay in getting CNG.
According to them, there are still scanty CNG stations in Abuja, resulting in delays in filling CNG-powered vehicles.
Also, Kunle opined that CNG impacts negatively on the productivity of vehicles.
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