Tinubu commissions four CNG projects in major clean transport drive

Politics

ABUJA, Nigeria (NPA) — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commissioned four major Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) infrastructure projects across Lagos, Abuja, and Owerri, marking a significant expansion of Nigeria’s clean transport network.

Delivered under the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF), the projects form part of the federal government’s accelerated response to subsidy reforms and its strategy to expand domestic gas utilisation, reduce transport costs, and promote cleaner fuels.

At Ojota, Lagos, Tinubu inaugurated the Portland Gas CNG Mother Station, with a daily dispensing capacity of 96,000 standard cubic metres, alongside a 54-metric-tonne storage facility and a CNG Daughter Station in Kubwa, Abuja. He also commissioned the IBILE Oil and Gas Corporation (IOGC) refuelling station, the flagship of Lagos State’s clean transport rollout, anchoring a network of 15 stations across the metropolis.

In Abuja’s Jahi District, the President unveiled the High-Capacity CNG Daughter Booster Station, developed by Rolling Energy Limited in partnership with MDGIF. The facility, described as the most advanced in West Africa, features high-speed dispensers, a 1,000 standard cubic metre-per-hour compressor, and a 3,200 cubic metre cascade storage system.

At the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Tinubu commissioned the FEMADEC CNG Daughter Station and Conversion Centre, the flagship of the 20 Universities CNG Ecosystem Initiative under the SPROUT Programme, designed to cushion the effects of subsidy removal on students and staff.

The FUTO facility includes a Vehicle Conversion Workshop, Training Centre, and CNG-powered buses and tricycles for campus transport. It also supports the Presidential CNG Initiative for Electric Vehicles (PiCNG-EV).

To ease public access to CNG conversion, the government partnered with CrediCorp, Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, and the National Credit Guarantee Company (NCGC) to offer structured consumer credit under the Credit Access for Light and Mobility (CALM) Fund, with financing rates as low as 9% and repayment spread over six months.

Speaking at the virtual commissioning, Tinubu said the projects mark a turning point for clean transport in Nigeria.

“Nigeria is a gas nation. Our energy future will not be borrowed. It will be built from what we have,” he said. “Lagos moves the country, and when Lagos can fuel itself with our own gas, at our own prices, the whole country benefits.”

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, described the rollout as a decisive step in operationalising Nigeria’s Decade of Gas agenda, noting that the country sits on over 210 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves.

“Properly harnessed, this resource can fuel our industries, power our homes, move our vehicles, and lift millions of our people out of poverty,” Ekpo said.

Executive Director of MDGIF, Oluwole Adama, said the projects demonstrate what is possible when government, regulators, investors, and technical partners unite around a shared purpose.

“They show that real progress happens when vision is translated into action,” he said.

Tinubu thanked the National Assembly, the NMDPRA, and joint venture partners for their roles in delivering the projects, describing them as proof of Nigeria’s commitment to sustainable energy and economic transformation.