CNG drivers face long queues as refuelling points fall short

Nigerians who converted their vehicles to compressed natural gas (CNG) to escape high petrol prices are now spending hours, and sometimes whole nights, queuing for the cheaper fuel.

Motorists in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states told Saturday PUNCH that refuelling points are too few and too far apart for the number of vehicles now running on gas.

Commercial bus driver Debo Adeoti borrowed ₦1m to convert his bus. He said he now sleeps at a station in Magboro, Ogun State, waiting for his turn to buy gas.

"They said we should convert to gas; we have converted, and now to get the gas is a problem," he said.

Wasiu Akande spent more than four hours in a queue at an Ibile Oil and Gas station in Ikota, Lagos, only to be told the gas had run out when he reached the front.

"It was so painful. I swear to God, I nearly cried," he said. He received ₦650,000 through a Federal Government scheme towards his conversion about six months ago.

Cheaper at the pump, costly in time

The savings are real. CNG sells for about ₦380 per Standard Cubic Metre for cars and light commercial buses, and ₦450 for heavy trucks. Petrol goes for between ₦1,330 and ₦1,405 a litre, depending on the station and city.

Some drivers say the difference changes their daily takings. Tricycle operator Michael Awosika said about ₦2,700 of CNG covers six trips on the Apata-Mokola route, against as much as ₦15,000 on petrol. Idowu Olaide said his daily fuel bill dropped from about ₦50,000 to between ₦10,000 and ₦20,000.

Interstate transporter Kayode Ojo said an Ibadan-to-Lagos trip now costs about ₦7,000 in gas, down from roughly ₦30,000 in petrol.

But the time lost in queues eats into those gains. Abiodun Olateju, waiting at the Ojota station in Lagos, said each trip is followed by another two or three hours hunting for gas. "The only thing is that it is better than fuel, but the stress is too much," he said.

Conversion itself is not cheap. A price list seen by the newspaper puts open-loop systems for four-cylinder engines at ₦810,000 to ₦870,000, while a double-cylinder V6 set-up costs ₦1.39m. Seun Bamgbopa said he paid ₦950,000, and Awosika ₦500,000 for his tricycle.

During visits, more than 50 vehicles were waiting at NIPCO in Magboro, over 20 at FuelBuddy in Magboro as late as 8:30pm, and more than 30 vehicles plus 40 tricycles at the NNPC station at Agodi Gate, Ibadan.

The Presidential CNG Initiative website listed 105 certified refuelling stations across 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory when checked on Wednesday.

The scheme began after President Bola Tinubu ended the petrol subsidy in May 2023. In 2024 the government offered to pay half the cost of conversion kits and started free conversions for commercial vehicles in Abuja and Lagos.

What happens next

The sources do not say whether more stations are planned or when. For now, drivers who took loans or used their savings to convert are weighing cheaper fuel against hours off the road.