Atiku Criticizes FG's CNG Policy, Calls Conversions Inadequate

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has sharply criticized the Federal Government's Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) conversion program, deeming the progress inadequate to address Nigeria's transportation and cost-of-living crises.

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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.

In a statement issued Friday, Abubakar pointed out that approximately 120,000 vehicles have been converted to CNG in over three years. He argued this figure represents less than one percent of the estimated 14 million vehicles operating on Nigerian roads, branding the initiative an "advertisement of policy failure."

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Against widely cited estimates of roughly 14 million vehicles on Nigerian roads, 120,000 conversions amount to less than one per cent. That is the government’s own number. That is Tinubu marking his own examination script.

Abubakar's criticism comes shortly after President Bola Tinubu announced plans to reduce public transport fares, linking this to the increased use of CNG and electric vehicles. However, Abubakar described this announcement as belated, accusing the administration of failing to provide meaningful relief since the removal of the petrol subsidy in May 2023.

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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.

He recounted how Nigerians have suffered from exploding transport costs, rising food prices, and suffocating business conditions due to energy costs, while the government repeatedly stated this was an unavoidable price for reform. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) echoed Abubakar's sentiments, calling the government's renewed push for CNG transportation a "panic mode" reaction and a "political gimmick" that is "three years too late."

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The administration’s latest intervention was not driven by concern for Nigerians but by the growing political challenge posed by the opposition ahead of the 2027