President Bola Tinubu has directed the rollout of an additional 500 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) refuelling stations nationwide as part of efforts to reduce transportation costs following the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Tinubu issued the directive on Thursday after meeting with state governors, who he said had agreed to take immediate measures to reduce transport fares in their respective states by leveraging cheaper energy sources, including CNG and electric vehicles.
In a statement issued after the meeting, Tinubu said the additional stations would bring the Federal Government’s planned CNG refuelling network to 1,000 stations nationwide.
“I have also directed the additional rollout of another 500 CNG refuelling stations nationwide in addition to the 500 stations ordered earlier in the year by the Fund, bringing the programme to 1,000 stations across the country,” he said in the statement on his X handle on Thursday night.
Jide Fashetire, Founder of City Mechanic, sets up a gas bottle in a minibus to convert it to gas combustion in City Mechanic, a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) centre in Lagos, on November 12, 2024. (Photo by OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP)
The President said the immediate objective was to ensure that Nigerians begin to benefit directly from the lower operating costs associated with CNG-powered vehicles.
According to him, vehicles running on CNG spend between 60 and 80 per cent less on fuel than those powered by petrol.
He said the Federal Government and the governors had agreed to establish a joint committee to begin implementing measures aimed at reducing transport costs.
“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!” Tinubu said.
The President said “intra-state transportation” was where Nigerians experienced the impact of high transport costs most directly, adding that state governments were therefore central to delivering relief to commuters.
“I am encouraged that our Governors are moving to bring these benefits closer to the people they serve,” he said.
Tinubu said the Federal Government was already investing significantly in the transition from petrol-powered transportation to CNG and other alternative energy sources.
He said more than 120,000 vehicles had so far been converted to CNG nationwide, while more than 100,000 additional conversion kits were in the works.
The government is also expanding vehicle conversion centres and CNG refuelling infrastructure across the country.
Through the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, the President said more than 100 gas projects were currently being financed nationwide, including 15 CNG mother stations and 86 daughter stations.
He noted that he commissioned four of the projects in Lagos, Abuja and Owerri in May, including a 15-station refuelling network in Lagos and a CNG facility in Abuja capable of serving up to 1,000 cars and tricycles and 50 trucks and buses daily.
The President said the Federal Government and state governments must continue to work together to ensure that the benefits of cheaper energy reach Nigerians.
“Each tier of government must keep doing its part and work together for the benefit of every Nigerian,” Tinubu said.
The latest expansion is part of the Tinubu administration’s response to the economic effects of the removal of petrol subsidy.
Tinubu announced the end of the subsidy during his inauguration on May 29, 2023, declaring that “fuel subsidy is gone”.
The decision immediately triggered a sharp increase in petrol prices and contributed to higher transportation costs, with knock-on effects on food prices and the wider cost of living.
A photo combo of President Bola Tinubu and a Nigerian Market
The administration subsequently launched the Presidential CNG Initiative as a major component of its effort to provide cheaper alternatives to petrol and cushion the impact of the subsidy reform.
The CNG programme has since expanded from vehicle conversions to the development of refuelling infrastructure and gas projects intended to support mass adoption of CNG-powered transportation.
The economic impact of the subsidy removal has also become a major political issue ahead of the 2027 general election.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, recently said the subsidy reform generated an estimated ₦15.8 trillion in resources for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
The Federal Ministry of Finance says the figure represents estimated subsidy savings shared across the Federal Government, states, local governments and other statutory recipients.
Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has meanwhile pledged to restore a targeted petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027.
Atiku has maintained that the removal of the subsidy has worsened hardship for Nigerians and argued that government policy should focus on restoring purchasing power.
“On the question of subsidy, my position has not changed and will not change: I will restore it!” Atiku said in a recent statement.
The contrasting positions have placed the future of petrol subsidy and the government’s economic reforms at the centre of the emerging 2027 political debate.
For the Tinubu administration, however, the expansion of CNG infrastructure is being positioned as a key part of its strategy to reduce energy and transportation costs.
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