Engr. Michael O. Oluwagbemi
The PCNGI note the latest alarmist headline on the fate of the thriving CNG sector by the skeptic section of the media, decrying the so called infrastructure gap in a sector that is barely seven months old in operation nationwide. We welcome the attention but note the headlines do not do justice to incredible vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and speed of implementation of the same by the PCNGI.
From May 2024, the PCNGI set out to implement its mandate in line with the directive and vision of Mr. President, which were to: 1. Incentive the adoption of CNG and EV vehicles to ensure sustainable transportation for all Nigerians 2. Facilitate investments into the alternative energy sector for transportation and 3. Coordinate regulation of the emerging sector for rapid growth. Because the initial desire of the President was greeted with skepticism, the start-up work of the PCNGI was to embark on an intensive awareness campaign which was conducted from May to October 2024; hardly any CNG vehicles were on our roads, and no demand at the few eleven CNG stations nationwide since a 2017 pilot by NNPCL.
Many, even our most ardent adherents were not convinced anyone will want CNG vehicles. Misinformation and fake news on CNG dominated the media space.
One year out, we are pleased that even the doubting Thomases are singing a new tune. With over 50,000 vehicle count and rising to 100,000 – the queues at CNG stations are naturally going to rise, because of such unprecedented increase (from mere 4000) in vehicle count as a result of massive incentive provided by the administration and the breakthrough in awareness due to the economic benefits of the switch. Nigerians love CNG and the program is working.
Indeed, the private sector as well as public partners that will develop the necessary infrastructure to meet the rising demand of CNG vehicles are taking note. Just last week, two new daughters stations in Abuja were commissioned with AY Shafa and Femadec investing in these ventures. Both entities have 9 and 21 daughter stations respectively in the works in the next one year. For Femadec, the dual benefit of leading the charge of building CNG ecosystem in 20 universities is an icing on the cake. This week, Yola is stepping up with Greenville investing, in its intensive roll out of LCNG stations in 51 locations across the North and SE as well as hard to reach places.
Over 175 stations are being rolled out nationwide by various partners.
In addition to Greenville and Femadec, the PCNGI is backing partners to roll out 24 sites in the next 6-9 months, with one site already activated in Ilorin. Port Harcourt, Ado Ekiti, Lokoja, Abuja, Aba and Enugu will all go live within the next 60 to 120 days to dispense CNG, to scale the refueling on-lending initiative heralded with the first launch in Ilorin last year that have already transformed that local economy.
Aside from these, NNPCL is investing. Additional 8 stations to its current stock of 12 are being finished as we speak and another 40 of 100 in Phase 2 of her roll out plan is being finalized. Bovas is launching two sites in Ibadan any moment from now from its eight station roll out of ultra modern CNG stations and ecosystem. NIPCO’s 8 stations in addition to 23 already live across the country will be completed within 6 months.
Just last week, the Midstream Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, a veritable partner in the process awarded ten new entries equity investments to develop their various gas projects. Three of them were focused on developing CNG stations. This was in addition to 4 of the 6 of initial 123 billion naira investments made last year by MDGIF being directed at the sub-sector. In one year, the CNG sector has attracted over $500 million in investments and created over 10,000 direct jobs. 255 new conversion centers that didn’t exist last year and 53 daughter stations exist today as a result of some of those investments.
Nigeria is making progress with respect to CNG infrastructure but engineering feats take time. It took over seventy years to get addicted to petrol and diesel, it will take more than seven months to be weaned off the addiction.
We plead patience with the skeptics and wish platforms like Vanguard Newspaper will focus on the positive stories of empowerment and enablement instead of driving negative narratives to stand in the way of progress. We doubt anyone will need to convert a Bi-Fuel vehicle that is already running on both CNG and Petrol back to just run on Petrol since even the mere occurrence of CNG stations on a journey can result in up to ninety percent reduction in costs. Vanguard was being alarmist and deliberately blind to progress and we understand their lonesomeness.
At the Presidential CNG Initiative, we remain committed to our mandate while working hard across the value chain to deliver the goodies Mr. President has promised to all Nigerians. Rome was not built in a day, and CNG will take more than few days.
Signed
Engr. Michael O. Oluwagbemi, PE, PMP
Program Director/Chief Executive
PCNGI
