Regardless of securing greater than $2 billion in personal sector investments in over two years, the Federal Authorities remains to be falling in need of its 2025 nationwide Compressed Pure Fuel (CNG) infrastructure targets, elevating contemporary issues about implementation gaps.
That is based on checks and inquiries carried out by Nairametrics throughout key authorities companies and trade stakeholders.
Whereas funding inflows and coverage backing stay robust, on-the-ground supply of refuelling stations and nationwide entry seems slower than earlier projections.
The Presidential CNG Initiative (PiCNG) was launched in 2023 as a core energy-transition response to petrol subsidy elimination, with bold plans to scale gas-powered mobility nationwide.
Nevertheless, months after saying a goal of 500 conversion centres and over 150 CNG stores by the tip of 2025, clear information confirming progress towards that benchmark stays restricted. Consideration is now shifting from headline funding figures to measurable infrastructure outcomes.
At a January 30, 2025 ceremony for 5 mini-liquefied pure fuel crops in Kogi State, Programme Director of PiCNG, Engr. Michael Oluwagbemi introduced plans to have a minimum of 500 conversion centres and over 150 CNG stores by year-end.
Checks on the initiative’s web site point out that greater than 300 conversion centres and over 40 refuelling stations have been constructed since 2023, however there isn’t a year-by-year breakdown displaying what number of had been truly delivered in 2025.
Nairametrics’ requests for detailed efficiency information had been redirected between companies.
Lara Obileye, the Gross sales, Enterprise Improvement and Technique Supervisor for the PiCNG mentioned she couldn’t present up to date figures and referred inquiries to the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
Dr. Ogho Okiti, Particular Adviser to the Minister of Finance, mentioned the CNG initiative workplace ought to present the related particulars.
Efforts to acquire feedback from the NMDPRA spokesperson George Eno-Ita had been unsuccessful as of the time of submitting this report.
As of January 2025, when the announcement was made, there have been about 50 CNG refuelling stations and 193 conversion centres throughout Nigeria, demonstrating a big hole between projections and present protection.
PiCNG was launched within the aftermath of petrol subsidy elimination in Could 2023, when pump costs surged, and transport prices climbed sharply nationwide. The programme was positioned as each a cost-relief measure and a long-term vitality transition technique geared toward deepening home fuel utilisation.
Authorities allocations have included N100 billion accredited in late 2023, N130 billion within the 2024 price range, and N225 billion within the 2025 price range cycle to help infrastructure buildout and conversion incentives.
Regardless of these commitments and funding allocations, stakeholders say most operational stations stay concentrated alongside pilot corridors and choose city centres, limiting nationwide accessibility.
Trade stakeholders say seen infrastructure rollout has lagged behind official projections, notably in refuelling station deployment and nationwide protection.
Sector operators additionally cite bottlenecks, together with delays in gear importation, restricted native manufacturing capability for cylinders and conversion kits, regulatory approval timelines, logistics constraints, uneven state-level coordination, and restricted financing entry for small conversion centres, all of which have slowed deployment.
The CNG initiative is central to the Federal Authorities’s broader technique to cut back transport gas prices and ease stress on international alternate by shifting demand towards domestically obtainable pure fuel.
Policymakers positioned CNG as a less expensive and cleaner various for mass transit operators, industrial fleets, and personal motorists following gas value deregulation.
With 2025 now over, infrastructure supply relatively than funding bulletins is turning into the important thing efficiency metric.
Vitality analysts observe that whereas funding commitments are robust, execution pace and clear milestone reporting will finally decide whether or not the initiative achieves its cost-reduction and energy-transition goals.
