The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) has attracted over $491 million in investments into Nigeria’s AutoCNG sector, creating more than 84,000 jobs within the past year.
This was disclosed by the Programme Coordinator, Michael Oluwagbemi, while addressing journalists at the State House on Monday.
According to Oluwagbemi, over 9,000 direct jobs and 75,000 indirect jobs have been created as part of the push to transition Nigeria’s automotive ecosystem to cleaner and more affordable energy sources, following the removal of the petrol subsidy in 2023.
He noted that vehicle conversion capacity, the ability to switch vehicles from petrol or diesel to bi-fuel (CNG/petrol) systems, has risen sharply from just 7 at inception to over 200 currently.
The momentum was further boosted by the launch of the Conversion Incentive Programme (CIP) by President Bola Tinubu in August 2024, which has already resulted in the recruitment of 3,000 new technicians.
He noted that to demonstrate the viability of CNG and electric vehicles (EVs), the Ministry of Finance procured a total of 655 buses — 421 CNG-powered, 36 electric, and others — with 405 already deployed.
Some of these have been allocated to labor unions as part of ongoing wage negotiations.
Additional rollouts in Kaduna, Abia, Enugu, Niger, Kano, and Benue are planned by June 12.
Oluwagbemi emphasized that from May to November 2024, PCNGI engaged in an intensive campaign to attract private sector investment — a strategy that has seen several firms committing capital.
Key developments include:
On the safety front, Oluwagbemi addressed concerns regarding a CNG incident in Benin, attributing it to illegal cylinder fabrication by economic saboteurs.
He noted that arrests had been made.
To strengthen regulation, he revealed plans to launch the Nigeria Gas Vehicles Monitoring System (NGVMS), which will ensure only certified vehicles and tanks are eligible for refueling.
The NGVMS is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025.