The Reason for the Compressed Natural Gas Powered Vehicles Roll Out Plan by the Federal Government of Nigeria

The central government of Nigeria in a plan referenced in Guardian Newspaper of 1st May, 2024 targets to put one million compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles on Nigerian roads by 2027. To that effect, an announcement was made yesterday by the President's Special Adviser on Information and Strategy,  Bayo Onanuga that some 5,600 CNG vehicles and 20,000 CNG conversion kits have been procured by the Federal Government, to the tune of 100 billion Naira ahead of President Tinubu's one year anniversary. 

The government at the centre implements this palliative in transportation sector due to the hardships associated with the fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria. 

The implementation of the plan however was greeted with criticisms by the players in the automotive industry. The criticisms were two-pronged: First, the time-honoured players in country including PAN Nigeria, Kaduna; ANAMMCO, Enugu;  Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Ltd (IVM), Nnewi; and Volkswagen, Lagos frowned that they were not included in the implementation, and alleged shady deals in the bidding for the contract. The implementation contract was awarded to JET Motors, Mikano Motors, Brilliant EV, and Kojo Motors for Semi Knock Down (SKD) CNG vehicle assembly. It is even more worrisome when Brilliant EV was totally unknown in the country's automotive industry. The time-honoured players decried the contract especially as they have paid their dues in the promotion of automotive industry in Nigeria via Complete Knock Down (CKD) CNG vehicle assembly. Secondly, the players noted that the SKD CNG vehicles assembly contradicts the Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP), 2023 inaugurated early April by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Nkiruka Uzoka-Anite, which aims to transition the auto industry in Nigeria from SKD to CKD by the next decade.

However,  the Managing Director of Transit Support Services (TSS) contrarily revealed that the bidding took place, and that TSS participated, and that it is the right of the stakeholders to choose contractors based on their criteria. He also said that both SKD and CKD hold positive effects in the country's automotive industry. 

It suffices to say here, according to source, that SKD (Semi Knock Down) means partly assembled vehicles which are shipped and completely assembled at the destination. CKD (Complete Knock Down) on the other hand is a kit of entirely unassembled parts of a vehicle which are shipped and assembled at the destination.