Presidency Steps Up CNG Drive, Converts State House Vehicles, Targets Staff Cars

The Presidency has intensified efforts to accelerate the adoption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), with the conversion of some State House vehicles to CNG-hybrid systems and plans to extend the initiative to interested government personnel.

The permanent secretary, State House, Temitope Fashedemi, disclosed this on Friday at the inauguration of a CNG refuelling facility converted from an abandoned petrol filling station in Karu, Abuja.

Fashedemi said about 10 recently acquired JAC vehicles in the State House fleet were already CNG-hybrid models, alongside some shuttle buses operating within the Presidential Villa.

He added that the State House was making arrangements for interested personnel to convert their eligible personal vehicles to CNG-hybrid systems in the coming weeks.

“We are demonstrating that we are walking the talk of Mr President. In the next few weeks, a number of our staff will be bringing their vehicles here for conversion, subject to the eligibility of the vehicles,” he said.

The permanent secretary explained that not all vehicles were suitable for conversion, noting that technical assessments would be conducted to determine those that met the required specifications.

He said the initiative reflected the Federal Government’s commitment to promoting cheaper and cleaner energy alternatives while encouraging private-sector investment in CNG infrastructure.

According to him, the newly inaugurated facility was delivered through a partnership between the State House, the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (Pi-CNG & EV) and Rollin Energy Limited, without any expenditure by the State House on its rehabilitation.

He explained that the government made the abandoned facility available for conversion to demonstrate the viability of the CNG initiative and encourage private investors to establish more refuelling stations and vehicle conversion centres across the country.

Fashedemi urged business operators to take advantage of opportunities in the emerging CNG market, stressing that government was focused on creating an enabling environment for private-sector participation rather than taking over the establishment and operation of commercial refuelling facilities.

“All the filling stations you see around, are they owned by government? No. They are owned by people and business operators. The earlier existing and prospective business people recognise this as an opportunity and partner with Pi-CNG to establish these facilities, the better,” he said.

He noted that Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources offered an opportunity to provide motorists and commercial transport operators with cheaper alternatives to petrol and diesel.

The chief executive officer of Rollin Energy Limited, Mubarak Umar Danbatta, said the facility had the capacity to serve approximately 150 vehicles daily, depending on cylinder sizes and operating pressure.

He described it as an integrated refuelling unit, with its compressor, dispenser and other essential equipment housed in a single system.

Danbatta disclosed that the State House project was the company’s second partnership with Pi-CNG, following an earlier collaboration inaugurated on May 29, 2024.

He said Rollin Energy currently operates facilities in Ilorin and Abuja, while two additional stations in Kano were expected to be commissioned the following week, with another two planned for Kaduna.

The company, he added, was targeting nearly 15 CNG refuelling facilities nationwide by the end of 2026.

Also speaking, the Chairman of Pi-CNG, Ismael Ahmed, disclosed that the federal government was targeting 2,000 additional CNG refuelling stations to accelerate the adoption of alternative fuel nationwide.

He said 106 stations were currently operational, while another 170 were at various stages of development or awaiting regulatory approvals.

Ahmed explained that President Bola Tinubu had directed the establishment of 1,500 additional stations in February and another 500 in August, with the projects expected to come on stream between this year and early 2027.

He said the programme had moved beyond the experimental stage, with the current priority being the expansion of infrastructure to meet the demands of Nigeria’s estimated 220 million population and 12 million vehicles.

On the impact of the initiative, Ahmed said CNG-powered buses had reduced transportation fares by between 30 and 40 per cent on routes where they operate, including Abuja, Lagos and the Kano-Katsina corridor.

He disclosed that commuters who previously paid between N3,000 and N4,000 on the Kano-Katsina route could now travel for approximately N1,500 using CNG-powered buses.

In a related development, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Affairs, Toyin Subair, said the Federal Government and state governments were expanding investments in CNG-powered buses, trucks, tricycles and other mass transit vehicles to translate the benefits of cheaper fuel into reduced transportation costs.

Subair disclosed that the National Economic Council had committed to a joint financing arrangement with the Federal Government to support the deployment of affordable transportation solutions across the states.

He said the administration was targeting a reduction of 40 per cent or more in transport fares, particularly on interstate routes and for the movement of agricultural produce.

He further disclosed that more than 30,000 additional vehicle conversion kits were expected to enter the Nigerian market from the following week to expand conversion capacity ahead of the Christmas travel season.