OPEYEMI OLOTU
Fresh concerns over Nigeria’s fragile energy transition ambitions came into focus as the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) moved to tighten ties in what insiders describe as a race to address mounting gaps in the country’s CNG push.
During a high-level visit to NMDPRA headquarters in Abuja recently, NADDC’s Director General, Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, led discussions that underscored growing anxiety over whether Nigeria’s automotive sector is truly ready for a large-scale shift from petrol to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
At the heart of the talks was a troubling reality: while the government is aggressively promoting CNG conversions, critical infrastructure, especially gas availability and distribution, remains uneven and unreliable. Osanipin acknowledged that the entire conversion drive could stall without a robust and accessible gas supply network nationwide.
He pointed to NADDC’s efforts to enforce safety standards, including collaboration with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to certify conversion kits and accredit workshops. But industry observers warn that regulation alone cannot compensate for systemic supply bottlenecks.
On its part, NMDPRA’s Chief Executive, Saidu Mohammed, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to the partnership, though critics argue that repeated assurances have yet to translate into the infrastructure scale needed to support the policy shift.
Behind the official optimism, the meeting signals a deeper urgency: Nigeria’s energy transition strategy may be moving faster on paper than on the ground. With conversion centres expected to multiply rapidly, the pressure is now squarely on regulators to ensure gas flows keep pace-or risk turning the CNG revolution into another policy bottleneck.
The visit ended with both agencies pledging stronger collaboration, but questions remain over whether coordination alone can resolve the structural challenges threatening Nigeria’s automotive transformation.
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