FG weighs mobile CNG stations to cut farmers' irrigation costs
- The Presidential CNG Initiative says mobile gas stations could serve rural farmers where permanent refuelling sites are not viable.
- It says northern governors report growing demand for gas-powered irrigation pumps instead of costly diesel and petrol.
- The initiative also asked the petroleum regulator to speed up licences for CNG stations, citing supply and approval delays.
The Federal Government is considering mobile Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations to bring cheaper fuel to rural communities, with farmers the main target.
Ismaeel Ahmed, chairman and chief executive of the Presidential CNG Initiative and Electric Vehicles (Pi-CNG & EV), said the plan is meant for places where private investors may not find it profitable to build permanent refuelling stations.
He spoke in Abuja on Thursday at a roundtable themed “Promise to Proof: The Renewed Hope Conversation”, organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Progressive Strategy Roundtable.
Why farmers are the focus
Ahmed said consultations with state governments, especially in northern Nigeria, showed that demand for CNG is moving beyond cars and buses to farm work.
Farmers want to replace expensive diesel and petrol with gas-powered irrigation pumps to cut production costs, he said.
He cited Jigawa State, where the governor told the initiative that more than two million farmers could benefit from cheaper energy for irrigation.
Ahmed said a mechanical irrigation pump can cover about three hectares of farmland, while a solar-powered pump typically covers about one hectare. Some farmers still prefer mechanical pumps for that wider reach, he said.
“Most of the states I visited in the North, the discussion has not been about even cars. It has been for CNG for irrigation pumps,” he said.
For an ordinary Nigerian, cheaper irrigation could mean lower running costs for farmers and, in time, less pressure on food prices. The government has not said when the mobile stations would start or what they would cost.
Licences and gas supply slow the plan
Ahmed said the programme has recorded about 143,000 vehicle conversions, with investments estimated at $2.6 billion. He did not give a naira equivalent.
He said President Bola Tinubu has authorised the initiative to push harder, but two problems stand in the way: inadequate gas supply and delays in getting licences for CNG refuelling stations.
He asked the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to speed up approvals for investors, while accepting that safety rules for gas infrastructure must stay strict.
Other officials at the event gave updates on power and fuel. The Rural Electrification Agency said 1,350 mini-grids are planned under a $750 million project.
The Niger Delta Power Holding Company said it runs 10 power plants with a combined capacity of 4,000 megawatts.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) put electricity production costs at about ₦200 per kilowatt-hour and said installed generation capacity has risen by about 780 megawatts, though service delivery is still below expectations.
NMDPRA said more than 26 refineries have been licensed, and that the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries, with a combined capacity of about 445,000 barrels per day, remain shut down while the government seeks technical help to fix them.
The regulator also said it is targeting 30 days of fuel supply monitoring, with a longer-term goal of 90-day strategic reserves.
What happens next
The mobile CNG plan is still at the consideration stage. Its progress will depend on how fast NMDPRA issues licences and whether gas can reach rural areas reliably.
