Nigerians still waiting for the promised CNG vehicles

…FG insists conversion process on in Oyo, Lagos, others

If you count from the first time the idea of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or autogas was muted in the country, it has been over 30 months, yet no vehicle runs on the “novel” innovation, which the promoters claimed to be a cheaper and cleaner source of fuel.

Then, in January 2022, Muhammadu Buhari, the immediate past president, in preparation for the withdrawal of the payment of petrol subsidies, announced CNG as the alternative source and the way forward.

Sadly, that seemed to be a mere promise, which the present administration has inherited, amid making more promises on the CNG initiative to cushion the effect of high transportation fares occasioned by the incessant hike in fuel pump price.

So far, there seems to be more promises than actions in the rollout of the CNG initiative, as the federal government keeps announcing huge numbers of buses for the scheme. The states claim to receive less, while the Presidential CNG Initiative keeps pushing the bulk of the implementation of the initiative to the states.

At the introduction of the Presidential CNG Initiative in October 2023, to promote safer, more affordable, and eco-friendly energy solutions, the government disclosed a plan to roll out 5,500 CNG buses and tricycles, 100 electric buses, and over 20,000 CNG conversion kits.

Earlier this year, there was a promise to release 3,000 CNG-fuelled buses. The emphasis on buses, according to the Presidential CNG Initiative, was due to the fact that mass transit vehicles are responsible for over 80 percent of petrol consumption in the country.

Again, ahead of this administration’s one year anniversary, the Presidency in April 2024 said that it was ready to launch about 2,700 CNG-powered buses and tricycles before May 29, 2024.

But not much of the above has been seen in concrete action as transport fares are soaring every day, and eating deep into the lean incomes of the masses.

Worried about the delay in the roll-out of the buses and the negative impact of the hike in fuel pump price, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in August this year decried that the Federal Government has not fulfilled its promise to help transporters convert their buses to CNG and also the rolling out of the buses in phases.

Read also: Facts, myths about CNG vehicles as petrol subsidy goes

Segun Falade, spokesperson of the union, noted that though they requested 10,000 buses, the 5,000 that are available are still being kept at the conversion facilities.

However, BusinessDay’s investigations revealed that apart from transport workers, many Nigerians are eager to embrace the CNG initiative because fuel is out of reach now, amid scarcity and incessant hike in pump price approved by the present administration, which is not going back on subsidy removal.

Since the inauguration of the present administration, petrol price has risen severally from the N180 per litre, N568, N850 to between N900 and N1,300 today.

“President Bola Tinubu has increased fuel pump prices more than all the former presidents just within a space of one year and five months. It is sad really that even with the Dangote Refinery on board, there is no respite for the masses.

“Of course, the price is going up again, maybe N1500 or N2000 before December. The masses are the ones suffering it, yet the CNG buses they promised are not ready,” Yohanna Dashi, an Abuja-based hospitality entrepreneur decried.

He argued that if the CNG initiative is as effective as the government is claiming, it should have been in place before the subsidy removal and that a year and five months is long enough to flood the country with CNG buses.

But the big worry for Onyewuchi Akagbule, a senior lecturer with the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, is that as the hike continues, inflation increases, cost of living crisis worsens and businesses are hugely impacted with low patronage.

“Considering the frequency of the hike in petrol pump price, it means that the federal government does not care how much petrol sells. But, it will be unfair if it also does not care if the CNG initiative works or not because the Presidential CNG Initiative people are now pushing the bulk of the conversion of petrol-powered vehicles to CNG to the states. But it is not the states that have been increasing fuel pump prices,” he lamented.

Momah Adagbo, fleet manager, CarFit, a car hire and logistics company at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, is eager to convert his Hiace buses to CNG and also wishes to get one of the 3,000 CNG-fuelled buses promised by the government.

“We are no longer able to keep our business running because of the extremely scarce and expensive petrol price.

“We have increased our charges twice this year and anytime we notify our clients of price adjustment, some of them look elsewhere for cheaper rates.

“Some are turning to friends and family members for airport pickup and drop off now. If CNG is the solution, the government should make it widely available to save our business from collapsing,” Adagbo decried.

James Ochiulo, a manager at Libra Motors Lagos, also noted that the interstate bus operators also need the CNG conversion urgently in order to reduce fares and still stay in business.

“Apart from high fuel price, spares parts, oil, tyre and maintenance are very high now. We are passing the costs to the passengers who are feeling the pain the most. But we have to survive as a company,” Ochiulo said.

Meanwhile, the initiative is not all about promises, as some feats are being recorded, according to the government.

Michael Oluwagbemi, programme director and chief executive officer, Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI), is insisting that the conversion process has begun in some states, like Oyo, Lagos, among others, and will take off in more states soon.

Read also: FG ready to assist states in acquiring CNG buses – Tinubu

“Oyo has rolled theirs, and Lagos has started with theirs too. So, states must do their work, and the Federal Government is not going to do everything. We will do our job, but let the state governments do theirs,” Oluwagbemi stated in answer to complaints by many whose states are yet to roll out the initiative.

Also, the PCNGI, recently signed separate deals with 75 conversion firms nationwide as part of the government’s policy of reducing addiction to petrol and diesel.

Oluwagbemi noted that the agreement covers eight states with expansion set for nine additional states in eight weeks.

The office, according to him, has been able to distribute over 6,000 to 7,000 conversion kits in the last 45 days, while expecting additional 12,000 kits in the next 30 days, which will enable it get more conversions done by the end of this year, with additional 100,000 to 250,000 kits before the end of the first quarter of next year.

But while Oluwagbemi assured of the government’s commitment to hit the goal of 150,000 direct conversions in the next one year, many Nigerians are calling for urgency and sincerity in the implementation of the initiative as little impact is being felt despite the huge noise and promises, and transport fares and fuel price are not coming down also.

They want speedy implementation, more conversion centres, even in hinterlands, and are also insisting that it should be free as promised by the government.