Malaysian Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook announced earlier this week that Malaysia will stop registering and using CNG-powered vehicles by July 1, 2025, citing safety concerns.
This move has raised questions about the safety of Nigeria’s own CNG programme, which aims to shift away from petrol and diesel.
However, in a statement on Thursday, November 7, President Bola Tinubu’s media aide, Bayo Onanuga, clarified that Nigeria’s situation is different.
He emphasised that Malaysia’s decision was largely based on issues with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), not CNG, which Nigeria has chosen as the exclusive focus of its green transition.
“NGV covers both CNG and LPG. Nigeria in its transition has adopted CNG ONLY, not both, because of LPG’s valid safety and cost concerns,” Onanuga explained.
He contrasted Malaysia’s approach with Nigeria’s, highlighting that Malaysia’s transition had limited impact.
“Malaysia basically had an unsuccessful transition away from costly and dirtier petrol and diesel. Conversion of 45,000 vehicles in 15 years (less than 0.2%) is not enviable, unlike India, China, Iran, and Egypt,” he said.
Onanuga also pointed out that Malaysia’s need to replace expired CNG tanks made it more economical to revert to petrol.
In contrast, Nigeria has begun developing tank manufacturing capacity in its first year, which Onanuga cited as evidence of a sustainable and scalable approach to CNG deployment in the country.
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