FG’s CNG policy: 120,000 conversions inadequate, says Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate have harshly criticized the Federal Government's Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) conversion program, arguing that the conversion of approximately 120,000 vehicles over three years is insufficient to tackle Nigeria's transportation and cost-of-living challenges.

Atiku stated that this figure represents less than one percent of the estimated 14 million vehicles on Nigerian roads. He asserted that the scale of the conversion reveals the program's ineffectiveness in providing substantial relief to Nigerians after the removal of the petrol subsidy. Atiku emphasized, "If Tinubu’s grand strategy for cushioning the consequences of his reckless and poorly thought-out subsidy removal is CNG conversion, then the admission that only about 120,000 vehicles have been converted in more than three years is not an achievement.

It is an advertisement of policy failure." His remarks followed President Bola Tinubu's announcement of plans to reduce public transport fares, linking the reduction to lower operating costs from CNG-powered and electric vehicles. Atiku termed the announcement as belated, accusing the administration of failing to provide sufficient relief since the petrol subsidy removal in May 2023.

He lamented, "For more than three years, Nigerians begged this government for relief. Tinubu removed subsidy without a credible cushioning framework, watched transport costs explode, watched food prices follow, watched businesses suffocate under crushing energy costs, and repeatedly told Nigerians that their suffering was the unavoidable price of reform."

The African Democratic Congress further accused Tinubu of operating in "panic mode" over the rising cost of living, claiming the renewed push to expand CNG-powered transportation was a political maneuver three years too late. They argued that the administration could have deployed CNG buses and other interventions earlier to alleviate the impact of the petrol subsidy removal.