The federal government’s beautiful promise of cheaper motoring is turning into a costly and traumatising wait for motorists who switched to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
Drivers are lamenting being stuck in long queues due to inadequate refuelling infrastructure across the country.
At some CNG refuelling stations, motorists now waste productive hours in queues waiting to refill their vehicles.
This has turned what was expected to be a cheaper and more efficient alternative to petrol into a frustrating daily ordeal.
Consequently, many vehicle owners who hitherto converted their vehicles to CNG at enormous costs, are being forced to return to petrol.
The development clearly undermines the federal government’s plan to accelerate CNG adoption as part of efforts to reduce transportation costs following the removal of the petrol subsidy.
President Bola Tinubu said last week that more than 120,000 vehicles have been converted to CNG nationwide under the Presidential CNG Initiative, with more than 100,000 additional conversion kits being processed.
The President also said the government was expanding conversion centres and refuelling infrastructure to support the growing number of CNG-powered vehicles.
But motorists interviewed by Daily Sun said the expansion of conversion centres without a corresponding increase in refuelling stations was creating a major bottleneck.
For commercial transport operators, the problem is particularly acute because time spent queuing for gas directly translates into fewer trips and lower daily earnings.
At the popular Oshodi motor park in Lagos, a commercial bus operator, Jamiu Ajikobi, said the difficulty of accessing CNG had forced several operators to return to petrol.
“Our business targets early morning interstate travellers. After loading, all I want to do is drive into a refuelling plant in a seamless manner to top up.
“But in the case of CNG, that is not the case. I have to drive up to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where we have the NIPCO filling station. Getting there, you can spend close to three hours.
“By that time, passengers would have been hurling curses at you because they all have appointments to catch up with,” he said.
For some motorists, the problem goes beyond inconvenience to a failure to recover the money invested in conversion.
Silas Okeke, a ride-hailing operator, said he spent about N650,000 converting his vehicle to CNG but had been unable to recoup the investment six months later because of the difficulty in accessing refuelling stations.
He said the situation was particularly difficult in Badagry, where he operates, as he often has to travel long distances to find a station with CNG.
“On some bad days, I can spend up to a minimum of five hours before it gets to my turn. By that time, I am already tired and may not be able to do much for the day.
“Equally, there is the risk of driving for hours to get to the refuelling plant only to discover that there is no product.
“As the situation stands, I use more petrol for my business than CNG. The CNG tank is just there in the car. Anytime I am lucky to refill, I use it, and if not, I continue running on petrol.
“That is not good for our business because of the high cost of petrol,” Okeke said.
The federal government, however, appears determined to accelerate the infrastructure rollout.
Tinubu recently directed the establishment of 500 additional CNG refuelling stations across the country, which would bring the planned national network to 1,000 stations.
“From October 1, our goal is that Nigerians begin to partake in those savings through lower transport fares. We have agreed that cheaper fuel should result in cheaper fares,” the President said in a statement posted on his X handle.
The President also said the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund was financing more than 100 gas projects nationwide, including 15 CNG mother stations and 86 daughter stations.
Four of the projects were commissioned in May in Lagos, Abuja and Owerri, according to the President.
The projects include a 15-station CNG refuelling network in Lagos and a facility in Abuja capable of serving up to 1,000 cars and tricycles and 50 trucks and buses daily.
Tinubu said the expansion was particularly important for intra-state transportation, where the high cost of mobility is most directly felt by Nigerians.
But industry operators remain sceptical about whether the government can deliver the planned infrastructure quickly enough to match the pace of vehicle conversions.
Managing Director of AU Technical Services, a CNG conversion centre in Lagos, Adekunle Egunjobi, said demand for conversion was increasing, but infrastructure remained the industry’s biggest constraint.
“In my conversion centre here in Lagos, I do an average of five vehicles per week. That tells you the adoption rate is improving. But the challenge is still mainly about the refuelling stations,” he said.
Egunjobi also questioned the feasibility of the government’s target of establishing 500 additional CNG stations by October.
“I can tell you that the promise by President Tinubu of establishing 500 CNG stations by October is just a political statement. It cannot be achieved.
“Do you know what it takes to set up a CNG station? That target is unrealistic and I would implore them to go back to the drawing board and come up with a more realistic target.
Converting vehicles may be relatively straightforward, but keeping those vehicles supplied with gas requires a reliable and sufficiently widespread refuelling network.
Until that infrastructure catches up with the number of converted vehicles, motorists who switched to CNG in search of cheaper mobility may continue to face a difficult choice, spend hours in queues for gas or return to the more expensive petrol,’’ he said.
SOURCE: thesun.ng