Nearly two years after the Federal Government launched its Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative, the programme continues to falter due to inadequate infrastructure, according to Mr Mike Osatuyi, a former National Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
In a recent interview with journalists in Lagos, Osatuyi expressed deep concern over the slow implementation of the initiative, especially as long queues persist at CNG stations in major cities like Lagos and Abuja.
He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his patriotic push to introduce CNG as an alternative fuel at the start of his administration, but lamented that Nigeria’s current infrastructural limitations risk derailing the programme’s long-term goals.
“If such efforts had been initiated two decades ago,” he said, “Nigeria could have cut petrol consumption by as much as 50 per cent today.”
Osatuyi highlighted the advantages of CNG, including environmental sustainability, reduced air pollution, cost-effectiveness, and improved safety, emphasising its potential to transform the country’s transportation sector.
However, he was critical of the shortfall in key supporting infrastructure such as conversion centres and CNG refuelling stations.
While acknowledging the President's appointment of a dedicated Minister of Gas and the establishment of the Presidential Initiative on CNG (Pi-CNG) led by Mr Zacch Adedeji, Osatuyi said these moves have not translated into concrete progress on the ground.
He noted that plans to deploy 200,000 CNG-powered buses and tricycles are hampered by the lack of nationwide support infrastructure.
“The budgetary allocation to the CNG project does not reflect the urgency with which Nigerians are converting their vehicles, often at high personal cost,” he said.
Osatuyi also warned against isolating stakeholders in the oil and gas sector from the implementation process.
He advised the Pi-CNG Committee to engage more broadly, cautioning against the assumption of a “monopoly of knowledge.”
Drawing parallels with past fuel scarcity crises, Osatuyi said motorists now endure long wait times at the few available CNG stations.
“In Abuja’s Zuba-Kubwa Road and Airport Road, and locations like the Mountain of Fire area on Ibadan Expressway and Ibadan Tollgate, vehicles spend hours, sometimes days, waiting to refill,” he noted.
Describing the current state of the CNG rollout as a “national embarrassment,” he urged the government to study successful international models and tailor them to Nigeria’s context.
Countries such as China, India, Iran, and Pakistan, he said, offer replicable examples of effective CNG adoption.
Osatuyi called on President Tinubu, who also serves as Minister of Petroleum Resources, to directly intervene.
He proposed allowing existing IPMAN filling stations to integrate CNG pumps alongside petrol and diesel, thereby avoiding the high cost of building new, standalone CNG stations.
He concluded by stressing that successful implementation will require a unified approach involving policy reform, economic planning, and sustained infrastructure investment, critical steps to securing Nigeria’s energy future.
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