The Federal Government is seeking a $2.5 billion investment from the private sector to achieve the ambitious target of converting one million vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by 2027.
The Media Relations Officer, Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGi), Fashida Taiwo, who stated this during the inauguration ceremony of MBH CNG Retrofitting Centre, said: “The initiative aims to mitigate the impact on Nigerians from the phasing out of fuel subsidy by promoting, financing, and establishing a regulatory environment for widespread CNG Autogas Conversion and the adoption of CNG and Electric Vehicle (EV) transportation across the nation, with a focus on mass transit systems.”
“With Nigeria boasting substantial natural gas reserves exceeding 200 trillion cubic feet, CNG emerges as a more environmentally-friendly and economically-viable alternative to traditional petrol and diesel.”
According to her, the initiative has already gained significant traction, facilitating the procurement of essential items such as conversion kits and CNG/EV vehicles, with plans to establish 10 pilot conversion centres and increase the number of CNG refuelling stations by 55 by the end of the year.
Taiwo hailed the inauguration as a significant milestone in Nigeria’s journey towards transitioning the transportation sector to sustainable energy.
“Today, as we inaugurate a new CNG facility with a mother station and conversion centre, it’s important to acknowledge the impressive and positive engagement from investors who are responding to the call to propel Nigeria forward with CNG.”
Earlier, Managing Director, MBH Powers, Bagu Mukhi, emphasised the importance of natural gas as a cleaner and cost-effective alternative to traditional fuels.
He noted that Nigeria, being rich in gas reserves, holds immense potential for harnessing the resource to meet energy demands while mitigating environmental impact.
The MBH boss added that the CNG retrofitting workshop had been equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to convert petrol-fuelled vehicles to run on natural gas.
