The Federal Government has said it is targeting the establishment of 2,322 Compressed Natural Gas stations nationwide by 2027 as part of efforts to deepen the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles and expand gas mobility infrastructure across the country.

The Executive Chairman and Chief Executive of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electronic Vehicles, Ismaeel Ahmed, disclosed this during the Nigerian Oil and Gas Midstream and Downstream Summit organised recently by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board in Lagos.

Represented by an official of the agency, Olayinka Rufai, the chairman said the government had made significant progress in expanding CNG infrastructure and vehicle conversion across the country within less than three years.

According to him, at inception, about one state had CNG available commercially, but the gas is now available in 24 of the 36 states of the country.

“Today, in less than three years, we now have 24 states active. We are looking at what goes on elsewhere. I think we can safely say that it is probably the fastest we have seen anywhere in the world, especially if you consider the conditions under which we are doing this, the economy, and everything,” he said.

Ahmed stated that over 100,000 vehicles had already been converted to run on CNG, noting that most of them were commercial vehicles due to the government’s focus on reducing transportation costs for ordinary Nigerians.

“Because of the palliative nature with which we started, the majority of those vehicles turned out to be commercial vehicles, because we intended to make an impact that touched the common man,” he said.

He explained that the initiative was designed to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal on transport costs. He disclosed that the initiative had also attracted over $1bn in investments into the CNG mobility sector.

“Also, we have been able to attract over a billion dollars of investment directly into this new industry/market called CNG for mobility,” he stated.

Speaking on infrastructure development, the PICNG boss maintained that Nigeria currently has 72 active CNG refuelling stations and 175 more under development. “And of course, from next-to-zero refueling stations outside of Benin, at our inception, over 72 active CNG stations are in Nigeria today. And believe you me, that number continues to climb,” he said.

According to him, Nigeria also has 28 compression stations in operation and 65 under development to support virtual gas pipeline distribution.

Ahmed further disclosed that more than 350 conversion centres had been established nationwide, describing them as small Nigerian businesses driving the sector’s growth.

“We have 28 compression stations in operation today. There are 65 in development. We have 72 refueling stations, which we call daughter stations, but there are 175 in development. That means that whatever number you see today, we expect to triple it in less than 18 months, which will, of course, increase the capacity to supply, which we hope should drive greater interest and greater demand.

“We have done this primarily without much involvement of the major. So, you can only imagine when they finally kick in, how that growth of retail supply infrastructure will explode. Also, we have over 350 conversion centres. In this audience, I need us to appreciate that these 350 are all small Nigerian businesses,” he stressed.

On manpower development, he said over 5,600 technicians had been trained and certified in CNG conversion technologies. He explained that the training became necessary because mechanics across the country needed to understand how to maintain converted vehicles.

“We have over 5,600 Nigerian technicians trained and certified in CNG, over 5,650. You can have 100 well-placed conversion centres, and you convert everything and give yourself 10.

“But what happens when the car is on the road and you have millions of mechanics who today don’t know anything about the CNG-converted vehicle? So we have placed a lot of emphasis on training and retraining technicians out in this space so that they are literate, familiar, and conversant with the different conversion technologies that exist,” he stressed.

Ahmed also revealed that the government had deployed 4,318 CNG tricycles, noting that 95 per cent of them were assembled locally. He added that Nigeria was witnessing increased local vehicle assembly activities, especially in tricycles and motorcycles. “It may interest you to know that the largest motorcycle assembly plant in Africa is here in Lagos,” he stated.

On the cost advantage of CNG, the CEO said the fuel remained significantly cheaper than petrol, saying, “The compelling argument is simple. CNG is N380 to N450 per standard cubic metre, which is the equivalent of one litre of petrol, which is N1,300 to N1,350 per litre. You do the maths. Where would you rather be?” he asked.

He added that the initiative was also scaling up electric vehicle deployment alongside CNG adoption. “We are scaling up CNG now, making it a reasonable, viable alternative to petrol and diesel. But we have also now picked up EV, and we are going to be deploying pilot EV projects across the nation and looking at recharging infrastructure,” he said.

He disclosed that the initiative’s 2027 targets include 2,322 CNG stations nationwide; 3,000 active conversion workshops; 1,000,000 total vehicle conversions; 75,000 direct jobs created and 300,000 indirect jobs.”