Empty tanks: CNG queues turn cheaper fuel into costly ordeal

Motorists who embraced compressed natural gas to cut fuel costs are now battling another challenge of long queues and limited access to refuelling stations, DANIEL AYANTOYE writes

When Debo Adeoti borrowed N1m to convert his commercial bus to Compressed Natural Gas, he had high hopes that the cheaper fuel would ease the cost of running his business.

But his expectation has now shrivelled up like raisins in the sun. Instead of full tanks at cheaper costs, Adeoti has found himself sleeping at filling stations.

“They said we should convert to gas; we have converted, and now to get the gas is a problem,” Adeoti told Saturday PUNCH.

The commercial bus driver said he sometimes travels to a CNG station in Magboro, Ogun State, where he waits through the night for his turn to buy the product.

He said, “Sometimes I will go to one filling station at Magboro, and I will sleep there. Go there, you will see for yourself. Before you get it, you will wait for a long time.”

President Bola Tinubu had, in May 2023, announced the end of the petrol subsidy, leading to the creation of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative.

In June 2024, the Federal Government met with transport stakeholders in Abuja to roll out conversion subsidies, offering to shoulder 50 per cent of the conversion kit cost (between N600,000 and N750,000).

The following month, the government officially commenced free CNG conversions for commercial vehicles in Abuja and Lagos.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that CNG is roughly 70 per cent to 75 per cent cheaper than petrol in Nigeria, making it a highly economical alternative despite recent price adjustments.

At refuelling stations, CNG currently sells for about N380 per Standard Cubic Metre for passenger cars and light commercial buses (and N450/SCM for heavy trucks).

In comparison, petrol ranges from N1,330 to N1,405 per litre, depending on the station and location (with NNPC stations in Lagos selling at N1,369/L and Abuja at N1,405/L).

Drivers lament queues

Despite the prospects of CNG, in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states, motorists who had spent hundreds of thousands of naira converting their vehicles to CNG are increasingly facing long queues and travelling several kilometres in search of refuelling stations.

Many drivers also lamented that they lose hours of business while waiting to buy the cheaper alternative to petrol.

One such driver is Wasiu Akande, who had spent more than four hours in a queue at an Ibile Oil and Gas Corporation station in Ikota, Lagos, on a hot Saturday.

Unfortunately, after hours of waiting, when it was finally his turn, he was told that the CNG had run out.

“It was so painful. I swear to God, I nearly cried. The experience was so terrible. This is one of the things we have been facing for this transition to CNG,” Akande said.

Akande had converted his vehicle about six months earlier and said he accessed a Federal Government scheme through which he received N650,000.

But he described the experience since the conversion as a big disappointment.

“Actually, the CNG is okay, but the availability and accessibility are the major problem,” he said.

According to him, while he benefited from government support, some motorists were still paying as much as N1m to convert their vehicles.

For people who borrow money or commit their savings to conversion, the long queues raise another concern: how quickly can the investment be recovered if they are spending hours waiting for fuel?

The transition to CNG policy was intended to reduce transportation costs for motorists and cushion the impact of higher petrol prices, while also encouraging the use of Nigeria’s natural gas resources.

The Federal Government-backed Presidential CNG Initiative had also provided conversion support for eligible motorists.

But conversion was only one part of the transition. For motorists to benefit from the lower running cost of CNG, they also need accessible refuelling stations, reliable gas supply and a distribution network capable of meeting demand.

Motorists told Saturday PUNCH that gaining access to the fuel itself remained a major obstacle.

As more motorists rely on CNG, existing stations are serving vehicle owners travelling from different parts of cities and neighbouring areas, producing long queues and, in some cases, forcing drivers to spend hours or overnight at stations.

While motorists are being encouraged to switch to a cheaper fuel, access to that fuel imposes another cost in time and lost income.

Conversion costs

The cost of converting a vehicle to CNG depends largely on the type of conversion system and engine capacity, with prices reaching N1.39m for some vehicles.

A conversion price list obtained by Saturday PUNCH showed that an open-loop system for four-cylinder engines costs between N810,000 and N870,000, while a sequential system for four-cylinder engines is priced between N870,000 and N880,000.

For vehicles with six- or eight-cylinder engines, sequential conversion costs between N1.09m and N1.1m, according to the price list.

For V6 engines, the conversion costs N1.1m for a 75-litre single-cylinder configuration, while a double-cylinder configuration, with two 75-litre cylinders, costs N1.39m.

The figures show that motorists may have to commit close to or more than N1m to convert some vehicles before they begin to contend with the availability and accessibility of CNG refuelling stations.

Unlike Adeoti, who had borrowed N1m to convert his commercial bus, another motorist, Seun Bamgbopa, said he spent N950,000 and another, Michael Awosika, said he paid N500,000 to convert his tricycle.

Despite the high conversion costs, motorists said the lower running cost of CNG remained a major attraction.

Awosika said he could make six trips along the Apata-Mokola route with about N2,700 worth of CNG, compared with as much as N15,000 he could spend on petrol in a day.

Idowu Olaide said his daily fuel expenditure had fallen from about N50,000 on petrol to between N10,000 and N20,000 on CNG.

An interstate transporter, Kayode Ojo, disclosed that the cost of a trip from Ibadan to Lagos fell from about N30,000 in petrol to approximately N7,000 in CNG.

Queues stretch into the night

When Saturday PUNCH visited the queue at the IOGC station in Ojota, Lagos, on October 17, it was observed that there were about 30 vehicles there at about 2 pm.

The long queue was still visible about three hours later.

More than 50 commercial and private vehicles were also seen waiting at NIPCO Gas station in Magboro, Ogun State, while more than 20 private vehicles remained in a queue at FuelBuddy station in Magboro as late as 8:30 pm on Saturday.

On Sunday, a queue of more than 20 vehicles was observed at Petrocam station in Mowe.

In Ibadan, Oyo State, more than 30 private and commercial vehicles were seen waiting at the NNPCL station in Agodi Gate, with the queue still visible until about 7:15 pm.

The observations indicate that the challenge is not simply the price of CNG but the availability and accessibility of dispensing points relative to demand.

Meanwhile, a check of the Pi-CNG & EV website by our correspondent on Wednesday showed that 105 Pi-CNG-certified CNG refuelling stations were listed across six geopolitical zones and 24 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

At the IOGC station in Ojota, Lagos, Abiodun Olateju said the long waiting time was already affecting his livelihood.

“Getting this gas is too stressful. I have been here close to three hours. It is affecting my business. If I go one trip, I will have to go and look for gas again and wait another two, three hours before I would get gas. The only thing is that it is better than fuel, but the stress is too much,” he said.

Olateju added that after making a trip, he might have to abandon the road again and spend another two or three hours searching for CNG.

During the visit, private car owners and commercial vehicle operators were seen waiting to buy CNG.

Some motorists left their vehicles in the queue and sought refuge under available shades, returning periodically to monitor their position.

Commercial drivers noted that remaining in the queue meant more than discomfort. Every hour they spent waiting was an hour that could have been spent carrying passengers and earning money.

For motorists travelling along the Lagos-Ibadan corridor, the search for CNG has therefore become another part of the daily journey.

‘We come from far places’

The problem is not restricted to Lagos and Ogun. In Ibadan, motorists are also spending hours at stations to buy CNG.

At the NNPCL filling station in the Agodi Gate area of Ibadan, more than 30 private and commercial vehicles and 40 tricycles were seen in a long queue during Monday and Wednesday visits.

The queue remained visible from the afternoon until about 7:15 pm.

For Lukman Rasheed, a surveyor who has used CNG for about five months, finding a convenient station is itself a challenge.

He said, “I live in Egbeda. Sometimes I may go to Bovas at Airport, here (NNPCL-Gate), or another station at Toll Gate.”

Rasheed said he had previously visited the Agodi Gate station in the morning but was unable to buy CNG because the station was waiting for a fresh supply.

He said the absence of more stations closer to his area was forcing motorists to travel to locations they would otherwise not have considered.

He said, “I have come here before in the morning, but they said they were waiting for the product to arrive. If, aside from Bovas, we have other options in the Egbeda area, I won’t bother coming here. Many people who are here are not from this area.”

Bamgbopa clarified that the shortage is particularly striking because he lives in Lagos but has found CNG more accessible in Ibadan.

“I live in Lagos, but the availability is not as good there as it is in Ibadan. If there are more CNG stations, it can be better than this,” he said.

Awosika, who converted his tricycle a month ago, also blamed the queues on the limited number of stations. He added that CNG had dramatically reduced his daily running costs.

He revealed, “When I fill now, I will come back tomorrow morning. I work at Apata-Mokola axis, and I drive six turns with as low as N2,700 that I fill.”

But when our correspondent spoke with him, he had already spent about two hours waiting.

“I have been here 11am. For fuel, you can use up to N15,000 in fuel in a day. Gas is better, but the availability is the problem,” Awosike said.

Cheap fuel, costly queues

Another driver, Idowu Olaide, said the financial difference between petrol and CNG is too significant to ignore.

He said, “Before, on a daily basis I could spend N50,000 on fuel, but currently, I don’t use more than N10,000 to N20,000 gas.”

Echoing a similar line, interstate transporter Ojo said a trip from Ibadan to Lagos that previously consumed about N30,000 worth of petrol now costs him about N7,000 in CNG. But the savings come with a caveat.

“It is much cheaper, but the problem is the trouble we go through to buy it. Government should do something about it,” Ojo added.

That trouble is particularly costly for commercial motorists whose income depends on the number of trips they can make in a day.

At the NNPCL gas station in Ibadan, tricycle rider Olayinka Olatinwo said motorists often had little choice but to join a queue or travel several kilometres to another station.

Olatinwo said, “I have been here for the past two hours. As we are queuing here, that is how we will queue at Toll Gate. The time we are supposed to be working, we will be in the queue.”

Operators, Pi-CNG respond

The operators of some of the CNG stations visited by Saturday PUNCH, however, said supply was not necessarily the problem, attributing the queues partly to the limited number of refuelling stations serving the growing number of motorists.

The Assistant General Manager, NIPCO Group, Lawal Taofeek, said the company’s station ordinarily served between 80 and 100 vehicles daily, depending on its operating hours.

Taofeek said expanding the number of CNG stations would help reduce the pressure on existing facilities.

He said, “It depends on the hours we work, but ordinarily, we serve 80 to 100 vehicles in a day. We have enough supply. It has never been the problem at all. There is no time when people will go to the station and they don’t have gas to buy. I believe when there are more stations, the queue will reduce.”

When contacted, a receptionist at IOGC, who declined to give her name, apologised to motorists who had experienced situations where CNG was unavailable at its stations.

She said, “I am sorry about that. It is something that maybe at some point the gas got finished, and they would have to replenish, and that is what could have actually happened. We are very sorry about that.”

She promised to forward the details of the complaints to the appropriate department.

NNPC Limited has attributed persistent queues to the limited number of available facilities amid increasing adoption of the alternative fuel.

The company’s spokesperson, Andy Odeh, said growing demand was being concentrated at existing stations, resulting in long waiting times for motorists.

He disclosed that NNPC Gas Marketing Limited operates one CNG mother station at Ilasamaja, Lagos, and jointly operates another with NIPCO at Ibafo, Ogun State, while additional facilities are under construction at Lekki, Lagos and Ososa, Ogun State.

He added that the company was engaging third-party operators to supplement supply, but disclosed that NGML currently had no CNG operations in Oyo State.

Responding to the concerns over long queues and waiting times, the Head of Brand and Communications at Pi-CNG, Onyekachi Eke, said the initiative was aware of the challenges facing motorists and was working to expand the country’s refuelling infrastructure.

“We recognise the concerns being raised by motorists over long queues and waiting times at some CNG refuelling stations. This is why the focus is not only on encouraging conversions but equally on expanding refuelling capacity and improving the reliability of existing infrastructure,” he said.

Eke said several new refuelling facilities were at different stages of licensing, installation and commissioning, while the Federal Government was working with the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, state governments and private-sector operators to expand the network.

He said the expansion included the development of mother and daughter stations in different parts of the country.

Eke acknowledged that the long queues had an economic impact on commercial drivers, who lose income while waiting to refuel.

He said, “We understand that for a commercial driver, time spent in a queue is also lost income. So, increasing the number, capacity and geographical spread of refuelling facilities remains one of the Initiative’s major priorities.”

On conversion costs and whether the government-supported conversion programme had been discontinued, Eke said the current programme was different from the initial intervention.

He said the first phase, known as the Conversion Incentive Programme, provided free conversions primarily for commercial transport operators and ran for about 15 months across 16 states before ending in July/August 2025.

“What ended was that particular phase of free conversions; the Federal Government’s support for CNG conversion did not end,” he said.

Eke said the next phase, Pi-CNG 2.0, commenced in March 2026 and broadened the support model through subsidised and discounted conversion kits as well as financing options.

He added, “The programme includes both bulk deployment and individual, commercial deployment, and financing arrangements have been developed with partners including Moniepoint and CREDICORP, with repayment options designed to spread the cost over time. What has changed is the model of intervention.”

Asked about the number of vehicles converted and CNG refuelling stations operating specifically in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo, Eke said the initiative could not provide an estimate because conversions were taking place both through Pi-CNG-supported programmes and independently through private accredited conversion centres.

More stations coming

On whether the long queues would ease before the end of the year and whether additional stations were planned for Lagos, Ogun and Oyo, Eke said the pressure should reduce as new facilities become operational.

“Our position remains that the pressure being experienced at some existing CNG stations should reduce significantly as additional refuelling infrastructure comes on stream,” he said.

According to him, some facilities were undergoing licensing processes, while others had received approvals and were approaching commissioning.