An investigation has revealed that Nigeria’s flagship clean energy programme, President Bola Tinubu’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative, is under threat from a thriving black market and internal sabotage.
EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Presidential Initiative on CNG (Pi-CNG) was launched in 2023 following the removal of the petrol subsidy and was designed to cut transport costs by providing free or discounted CNG conversion kits to commercial drivers. The federal government pledged to distribute one million kits nationwide, with 10,000 allocated in the first phase to operators like NURTW, Moove, and Uber.
EDITOR’S PICKS
Yet over a year into the initiative, PREMIUM TIMES found that the programme has been plagued by opacity, inflated costs, and an underground trade in the very kits meant to cushion Nigerians from subsidy removal shocks.
According to official responses obtained via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, the Pi-CNG has so far distributed 15,310 kits. But while officials claimed the cost of converting a V4 engine vehicle stands at ₦1.2 million, comprising ₦1.05 million for the kit and ₦150,000 in labour, market analysis showed similar services offered by private entities like NIPCO for as low as ₦750,000. In some cases, kits reportedly go for ₦582,000 to ₦600,000.
The discrepancies have fuelled a parallel market where kits, procured under government subsidy, are sold at knockdown prices.
In one WhatsApp group monitored during the investigation, a vendor named Sam Ogidi offered complete CNG kits for ₦300,000, boasting of his “government connection.”
Ogidi said he could facilitate conversions under transport unions like Bolt or NURTW to legitimise the process. “It is from the government’s angle,” he told an undercover reporter, sharing a Heritage Cab ID linked to a National Assembly member’s driver.
Another vendor, Omuah Charles, a Bolt driver who received a kit at a subsidised rate, resold it for ₦295,000. He pointed to one Captain Yusuf as his source, later identified as Yusuf Oke, a consultant to the Pi-CNG.
Oke denied any wrongdoing, saying previous legitimate transactions may have been exploited by individuals masquerading as beneficiaries.
In total, the government has disbursed nearly ₦46 billion through the Commercial Vehicle Conversion Incentive Programme (CV-CIP), covering kit distribution and the purchase of over 500 bi-fuel buses.
Yet the lack of procurement transparency and the emergence of illegal sales suggest serious loopholes that risk undermining the programme’s intent.
Insiders say a culture of insider trading, identity falsification, and profiteering has turned the Pi-CNG into a supply chain vulnerable to abuse. As Nigeria struggles to lower transportation costs and promote energy alternatives, the black market threatens to derail a critical reform.
FURTHER READING
For a programme meant to offer economic relief, the growing shadow trade now raises pressing questions: who really benefits and at what cost to the average Nigerian?
Philip Ibitoye is a Special Correspondent with EKO HOT BLOG. Click here to find daily analysis and critical insight on trending issues in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
Click here to watch the video of the week below:
Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:
Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.
Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.
Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611
