Tinubu commissions CNG station as Rolling Energy leads clean fuel revolution

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken another bold stride in Nigeria’s clean energy journey, commissioning a state-of-the-art Compressed Natural Gas Daughter Booster Station in Jahi, Abuja,being  part of a sweeping nationwide push to wean the country off costly petroleum dependence and unlock the full potential of its vast gas reserves.

Represented at the ceremony by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Gas, Ekperikpe Ekpo, explained that the President framed the project as a centrepiece of his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which places domestic gas utilisation at the heart of Nigeria’s industrial and economic future.

Nigeria holds approximately 215 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, yet for decades, the bulk of this wealth has flowed outward through exports while millions of Nigerians bore the burden of expensive, polluting fossil fuels.

Tinubu’s administration is moving decisively to change that narrative. The Jahi commissioning is one of four gas infrastructure projects being unveiled simultaneously across the country, with similar facilities launched by Ibile Oil and Gas and Portland Energy in Lagos and Owerri respectively. Together, they signal a government-backed momentum that is drawing private capital into a sector long considered under-exploited.

“This facility marks another important milestone in our collective drive to deepen gas utilisation, expand access to cleaner energy solutions, and strengthen Nigeria’s gas value chain,” Ekpo declared at the event.

Rolling Energy: Building the Infrastructure of Tomorrow

At the forefront of this transformation stands Rolling Energy Limited, the private sector champion behind the Jahi facility, developed in strategic partnership with the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF).

The company’s Chairman, Mubarak Umar Dambata, outlined an ambitious footprint that stretches well beyond Abuja. Rolling Energy is spearheading a comprehensive infrastructure rollout across Northern Nigeria, with CNG mother stations, daughter stations and Liquefied Natural Gas facilities in the pipeline for Kaduna, Kano and Borno states.

The innovations do not stop at fuel dispensing. Rolling Energy has partnered with the Presidential Initiative on CNG and Electric Vehicles to convert over 8,000 vehicles to gas-powered systems — a tangible, street-level impact that translates policy into everyday savings for Nigerian commuters and businesses.

With a sales capacity of 1,000 Standard Cubic Metres SCM per hour two CNG tube skids with a combined storage capacity of 17,000 SCM, the project is described as a wonder.

It has a Mass Conversion Centre capable of converting up to 20 vehicles and 25 tricycles daily; currently serving 350–400 vehicles per day since commercial operations commenced. It also has the projected capacity to serve more than 1,000 CNG vehicles and 100 trucks daily across the FCT and surrounding regions

The Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on CNG and Electric Vehicles, Ismahil Ahmed, reframed one of the administration’s most contentious decisions — the removal of fuel subsidies — as the necessary catalyst that gave urgency to Nigeria’s alternative energy drive.

“CNG offers a cleaner and more economically viable option,” Ahmed argued, urging investors to move swiftly into a market where demand for gas infrastructure is set to surge.

Presidential Adviser Sunday Dare added wider context, revealing that the Tinubu administration has commissioned 25 projects nationwide to mark its third anniversary, with clean energy and gas infrastructure featuring prominently among them.

With regulatory backing from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and financial support from MDGIF, the building blocks of a CNG-powered Nigeria are firmly in place. For ordinary Nigerians — truck drivers, tricycle operators, factory owners — the promise is lower costs, cleaner air and greater energy reliability.