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Despite securing more than $2 billion in private sector investments in over two years, the Federal Government is still falling short of its 2025 nationwide Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) infrastructure targets, raising fresh concerns about implementation gaps.

This is according to checks and inquiries conducted by Nairametrics across key government agencies and industry stakeholders.

While funding inflows and policy backing remain strong, on-the-ground delivery of refuelling stations and nationwide access appears slower than earlier projections.

The Presidential CNG Initiative (PiCNG) was introduced in 2023 as a core energy-transition response to petrol subsidy removal, with ambitious plans to scale gas-powered mobility nationwide.

However, months after announcing a target of 500 conversion centres and over 150 CNG retail outlets by the end of 2025, clear data confirming progress toward that benchmark remains limited. Attention is now shifting from headline investment figures to measurable infrastructure outcomes.

At a January 30, 2025 ceremony for five mini-liquefied natural gas plants in Kogi State, Programme Director of PiCNG, Engr. Michael Oluwagbemi announced plans to have at least 500 conversion centres and over 150 CNG retail outlets by year-end.

Checks on the initiative’s website indicate that more than 300 conversion centres and over 40 refuelling stations have been built since 2023, but there is no year-by-year breakdown showing how many were actually delivered in 2025.

Nairametrics’ requests for detailed performance data were redirected between agencies.

Lara Obileye, the Sales, Business Development and Strategy Manager for the PiCNG said she could not provide updated figures and referred inquiries to the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.

Dr. Ogho Okiti, Special Adviser to the Minister of Finance, said the CNG initiative office should provide the relevant details.

Efforts to obtain comments from the NMDPRA spokesperson George Eno-Ita were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.

As of January 2025, when the announcement was made, there were about 50 CNG refuelling stations and 193 conversion centres across Nigeria, demonstrating a significant gap between projections and current coverage.

PiCNG was launched in the aftermath of petrol subsidy removal in May 2023, when pump prices surged, and transport costs climbed sharply nationwide. The programme was positioned as both a cost-relief measure and a long-term energy transition strategy aimed at deepening domestic gas utilisation.

Government allocations have included N100 billion approved in late 2023, N130 billion in the 2024 budget, and N225 billion in the 2025 budget cycle to support infrastructure buildout and conversion incentives.

Despite these commitments and funding allocations, stakeholders say most operational stations remain concentrated along pilot corridors and select urban centres, limiting nationwide accessibility.

Industry stakeholders say visible infrastructure rollout has lagged behind official projections, particularly in refuelling station deployment and nationwide coverage.

Sector operators also cite bottlenecks, including delays in equipment importation, limited local manufacturing capacity for cylinders and conversion kits, regulatory approval timelines, logistics constraints, uneven state-level coordination, and limited financing access for small conversion centres, all of which have slowed deployment.

The CNG initiative is central to the Federal Government’s broader strategy to reduce transport fuel costs and ease pressure on foreign exchange by shifting demand toward domestically available natural gas.

Policymakers positioned CNG as a cheaper and cleaner alternative for mass transit operators, commercial fleets, and private motorists following fuel price deregulation.

With 2025 now over, infrastructure delivery rather than funding announcements is becoming the key performance metric.