The federal government announced plans to increase Nigeria’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) conversions by 733% to 250,000 by June 2025, up from 30,000 in October 2024. The Presidential CNG Initiative (Pi-CNG), part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s palliative intervention, revealed that by 2027, CNG conversions would rise by over 3,000% to 1 million vehicles.
Speaking at a virtual event titled “Driving the Energy Transition: CNG Conversion,” organized by the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), Engr. Zayyanu Tambari, Regulatory & Compliance Coordinator for Pi-CNG, shared these goals. He noted that the program currently involves 100 conversion partners, a number expected to rise to 150 by March 2025 and 200 by June 2025.
Tambari also disclosed that 85 CNG buses have been delivered to four cities—20 buses each to Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, and Ilorin, with five buses dispatched to other regions. Highlighting the safety of CNG, he announced the launch of the Nigeria Gas Vehicle Monitoring System (NGVMS) to enhance safety practices. He further mentioned several recent initiatives, including nine new CNG refueling sites and local manufacturing of CNG kits and cylinders, as well as the introduction of a CNG Green Financing Initiative in late 2024.
Ujiadugbeli Nosiediana, Deputy Operations Manager at NIPCo, added that the company has led the nation’s CNG conversion efforts since 2009, with 19 operational CNG stations and several conversion workshops in Benin City, Ibafo, Abuja, and Ibadan.
Engr. Olalekan Omoniyi, Deputy Director of Standards at the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), also emphasized that safety standards have been established to regulate CNG conversion, stressing the importance of compliance and training for stakeholders.