Tinubu pivots to shaky electric vehicle plan as CNG policy falters

ON September 10 2023, President Bola Tinubu made the compressed natural gas (CNG) available for vehicles at just N230 per litre, with a view to reducing the impact of high petrol prices and offering Nigerians an affordable alternative. This was 4 months after he had deregulated the oil market, raising the cost of petrol more than 4 times in Africa’s most populous nation.

Since then, he has ordered his lieutenants to ensure there is availability of CNG kits or refilling centres across the country. On March 12 2024, Tinubu ordered the deployment of 100,000 CNG conversion kits nationwide to mitigate rising petrol prices. On March 11 this year, the president also directed the immediate deployment of 100,000 CNG conversion kits within the following 2 to 3 weeks to help cushion the impact of rising petrol and diesel prices on Nigerians.

On March 27, Mr Tinubu equally approved the expansion of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas to include electric vehicles in a new drive to reposition the initiative. He also changed the name of the programme to the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (PiCNG & EV).

This was more than 2 years after discovering that his CNG plan isn’t working. Currently, there are few refilling stations in Nigeria, with very few mechanics skilled enough to fix CNG vehicles. Also, mechanics say CNG converted vehicles are regularly developing mechanical faults, making several Nigerians reluctant to adopt the initiative.

READ ALSO: Vehicle engineers warn against Nigerian government-backed petrol-to-CNG conversions

“I work in Abuja. I have seen the entourage of our ministers, legislators and even the president and his vice. How many vehicles in their entourage are CNG vehicles? Or, are they campaigning its use for Nigerians while still keeping their beloved petrol vehicles?” said a Abuja-based senior development expert, Mr Yahaya Audu.

“If you and your lieuteants are not adopting CNG vehicles, why are you asking Nigerians to do so? I knew it was dead on arrival when the plan did not include the unpredictable price of gas.”

Shaky electric vehicle plan

President Tinubu has incorporated EVs into the CNG plan to make the intiative look bigger and bolder. According to his spokesman Bayo Onanuga, the PiCNG & EV will work with CreditCorp Nigeria, financial institutions, and relevant partners to design cost-effective financing structures that can make vehicle conversions widely accessible to the public.

The president also directed the accelerated deployment of mobile refuelling units to expand access to CNG while permanent infrastructure continues to scale. According to the statement released on Thursday, gas remains a competitive and strategic fuel for transportation, leveraging Nigeria’s abundant resources to lower costs, strengthen energy security, and conserve foreign exchange. The inclusion of electric vehicles further strengthens the government’s agenda for affordable, efficient, and environmentally responsible mobility, The Punch reported.

However, there are issues that make the plan dead on arrival. First, EVs depend entirely on power, which is Nigeria’s current biggest weakness. Based on data available to Economy Post, Nigeria has only generated up to 6,000 megawatts (MW) of power once in the last 4 years. And that was on March 2, 2025, when generation stood at 6,003MW, which did not last longer than a day.

Power distribution is even more problematic, with grid-connected power plants only running at only 38 percent of their total installed capacity of 13,625 megawatts (MW) in September 2025, according to data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

According to the NERC, Nigeria’s 28 electricity power plants had a combined capacity to produce 13,625MW electricity in 2025 but only 3,781MW reached consumers.

“Look, how can you implement EVs as a policy when over 86 million people lack access to electricity?” said a Lagos-based electrical engineer, Mr Thomas Adetunji. “It is not an impossible policy but a premature one.”

Also, charging infrastructure for EVs is nearly non-existent in Nigeria. The infrastructure , if any, exists only in Lagos and Abuja. Also, EVs should never be a public policy tool as they are expensive for the average Nigerian. Vehicle sellers say an average EV can cost up to 10 times more than a petrol vehicle, meaning that several Nigerians can’t afford them, especially in the face of Presidebt Tinubu’s lack of a coherent credit or financing framework for it.

READ ALSO: Nigeria needs $22bn to complete key gas pipeline projects

“Also, the government is yet to tell Nigerians what it plans to achieve with this. Are there incentives like you have in Kenya? Also, how many Nigerian mechanics can fix an EV? Isn’t it better to first focus on training technicians and growing the repair ecosystem first?” asked a Port Harcourt-based mechanical engineer, Mr Jude Agbese.

“I hope they tell Nigerians that due to poor electricity, many EV users would still need generators or solar and battery systems,” he added.