Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is cutting the daily fuel bills of some Lagos drivers by thousands of naira, but long queues at refuelling stations are taking away hours they would otherwise spend working, according to drivers interviewed by NewsDirect.
The drivers, using CNG at stations in Agidingbi and Agege, described a trade-off between cheaper fuel and the time required to access it, with some reporting waits of up to four hours and fewer trips as a result.
Their experiences come days after President Bola Tinubu said Nigerians should begin to see measurable reductions in transportation costs from October 1, with states expected to ensure that savings from cheaper energy translate into lower fares.
In a September 19 statement, Tinubu said more than 120,000 vehicles had been converted and that Nigeria had more than 90 CNG refuelling stations and over 400 certified conversion centres under the National Affordable CNG Transit Programme.
The President urged states to work with transport unions and commercial operators and ensure that savings from cheaper energy reach citizens through lower fares.
However, for drivers using the stations in Lagos, the immediate benefit appears to be more visible in their fuel expenditure than in the time available to work.
A keke driver interviewed at the Mobil/NIPCO CNG station in Agidingbi said he typically spends between two and three hours waiting to refuel.
He said the CNG itself had been beneficial because of its lower cost, but the time spent in queues had become the major difficulty.
According to him, some drivers struggle to meet their daily obligations to keke owners because of the hours spent waiting for CNG, while motorists from areas without nearby stations travel long distances to access the fuel.
He called for more CNG stations to reduce the pressure on existing outlets.
At IBILE Oil & Gas in Agege, keke driver Ridwan Akondi gave a clearer picture of the difference in his fuel expenditure.
Akondi said he previously spent about ₦22,000 a day on petrol but now spends between ₦2,000 and ₦5,000 daily on CNG.
The reduction, he said, has significantly lowered his fuel costs, although he remains concerned about the limited number of CNG stations.
Another driver at the same station, Michael, a BRT driver said he previously spent about ₦25,000 daily on petrol.
He said he now combines about ₦10,000 worth of petrol with CNG and that the fuel combination lasts much longer.
He however noted that the saving comes with a cost in working time.
Michael said he could make between 10 and 12 trips a day when relying on petrol, but the time spent waiting for CNG has reduced that to between seven and eight trips.
He said he waits for at least three hours to refuel and called for more stations, including facilities that operate around the clock.
For him, however, the lower cost of CNG remains worth the wait.
The impact is also being felt by app-based drivers.
Olatunde Oluwatosin, a Bolt driver, said he previously spent between ₦42,000 and ₦50,000 a day on fuel.
Since switching to CNG, he said his daily expenditure has fallen to between ₦14,000 and ₦15,000.
For Oluwatosinn he disclosed that he spends about three to four hours in the queue on a normal day, limiting the number of trips he can complete.
He said the waiting time also means he is unavailable to accept Bolt requests, leading to missed or cancelled trips.
According to him, the cheaper fuel therefore provides a direct reduction in running costs, but does not necessarily translate into higher earnings because of the time lost at the station.
Oluwatosin also said Bolt drivers have less control over passenger fares because pricing on the platform is not adjusted by individual drivers in the same way that some other commercial transport operators can alter their charges.
He nevertheless described the October 1 target as achievable if more CNG stations are provided.
A private car owner who also drives for Uber, identified as Mr Kayode, gave another account of the savings.
Kayode said he previously spent between ₦48,000 and ₦52,000 a day on petrol.
He now said his daily CNG expenditure does not exceed about ₦14,000, depending on the pressure in his vehicle’s tank.
Explaining his experience at the station, Kayode said he had spent about an hour waiting when he was interviewed and that long queues had become a regular occurrence.
“This is how it normally happens every day,” he said, describing the situation at the station.
Kayode said stations operating only during daytime hours were not sufficient to meet the demand created by the growing number of vehicles being converted to CNG.
He suggested that stations should operate 24 hours, with cashless payments such as transfers or card payments used at night if security concerns make cash handling difficult.
Despite the inconvenience, Kayode said the difference in fuel expenditure was clear.
“The difference is clear,” he said.
He argued that expanding the number of stations would allow more motorists to benefit from the lower cost of CNG without spending several hours waiting to refuel.
The drivers’ experiences point to a gap between the direct cost of CNG and the wider cost of accessing it.
For drivers who spend several hours waiting, cheaper fuel can mean fewer trips, missed bookings, and less time available to earn money.
The problem is particularly significant for commercial drivers whose income depends on the number of trips completed each day.
The Federal Government has said it is expanding CNG infrastructure.
The Federal Government revealed in May that 15 IBILE Oil and Gas CNG refuelling stations were being delivered across Lagos, alongside other CNG infrastructure projects.
In March, the Presidency also said the Presidential Initiative on CNG and Electric Vehicles would accelerate the deployment of mobile refuelling units while permanent infrastructure expands.
However, drivers interviewed by NewsDirect said the immediate challenge remains access to the stations already operating.
Attempts to obtain comments from available PiCNG representatives at the stations were unsuccessful, as officials said they required management approval before speaking on the matter.
For the drivers, the question is therefore not only how much cheaper CNG is than petrol, but how much working time they have to surrender to obtain it.
As the October 1 deadline approaches, their experience suggests that the financial benefit of cheaper fuel and the practical cost of accessing it are two separate issues that will both determine how much of the promised transport savings reaches motorists and commuters.