Three years after the Federal Government launched its Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative to cushion the impact of petrol subsidy removal, many auto dealers across Nigeria continue to prioritise petrol-powered cars, leaving factory-fitted CNG vehicles scarce on showroom floors.
While commercial operators have embraced conversions of buses, tricycles and trucks, private passenger cars largely remain petrol-dependent. Industry observers and reports indicate that new CNG-powered cars have yet to gain significant traction among dealerships, even as the Presidential CNG Initiative (now Pi-CNG & EV) records progress in other areas.
Government figures show that more than 120,000 vehicles have been converted to CNG nationwide since the programme’s acceleration in 2023, with over 100,000 additional conversion kits in the pipeline. Official data also point to more than 300 accredited conversion centres, over 90 operational refuelling stations across multiple states, thousands of technicians trained, and private-sector investments running into billions of dollars.
President Bola Tinubu recently directed the rollout of an additional 500 CNG stations, aiming for a total of 1,000 nationwide, to improve access and drive down transport costs. CNG is significantly cheaper than petrol, with users reporting fuel savings of 40–60 per cent or more, depending on vehicle type and usage.
Despite these gains, the adoption pattern remains skewed toward commercial fleets. Buses and tricycles have seen the bulk of conversions and new deployments (including government-procured CNG buses and thousands of tricycles), while private car owners and dealerships have been slower to switch. Conversion costs for passenger cars typically range from ₦300,000 to ₦600,000, and limited refuelling infrastructure outside major urban centres continues to deter wider uptake.
Auto sector stakeholders have previously noted that the shift to alternative fuels requires structural changes, including greater availability of factory CNG models, stronger financing options and consistent policy signals. Some dealers and associations have called for governments at all levels to lead by example through public procurement of CNG and electric vehicles.
Critics, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have described the overall conversion numbers as modest relative to Nigeria’s estimated 12–14 million vehicles on the road, arguing that the programme has not yet delivered the broad relief from high transport costs originally promised.
Supporters of the initiative counter that the foundation is being laid, with conversion capacity expanding dramatically, jobs created and infrastructure gradually spreading. The challenge, they say, is scaling access and confidence so that private car buyers and dealers fully embrace CNG options alongside petrol models.
As the Federal Government intensifies efforts to expand stations and conversion support, the gap between commercial conversions and the passenger car market remains a key test of whether CNG can move from a commercial niche into mainstream private vehicle ownership.
