Wasiu Sowami Fresh Moves

Wasiu Sowami built his name selling petrol. With his next move in view, one can only conclude that he wants to be remembered for something else entirely. And what is this move? An Ardova-led consortium, including Diadem Energy, has agreed to buy Powergas, in a deal expected to close by late 2026.

Powergas runs what the industry calls a virtual pipeline, compressing gas and trucking it to industrial and commercial customers beyond Nigeria’s conventional pipeline network. It operates mother stations in Lagos, Rivers, Delta and Ondo, and its Ebedei project in Delta turns flared gas into usable fuel.

What Powergas lacks, Ardova already has: a nationwide retail footprint, existing customer relationships and distribution built over years of selling petrol, diesel, LPG and aviation fuel. Sowami put the logic plainly, saying Nigeria’s next era of energy development will be built on gas, and built at scale.

The clearest sign of where this is heading is Ardova’s plan to install CNG infrastructure at 100 refuelling sites within 24 months of the deal closing. Vehicle availability has been one obstacle to Nigeria’s CNG transition, refuelling access the other.

Ardova plans to fold that access into filling stations it already runs, rather than build an entirely new network from scratch.

This is not Sowami’s first restructuring. He emerged at the centre of Forte Oil’s transformation into Ardova Plc, later took the company private by buying out minority shareholders, and added Enyo Retail & Supply to strengthen the network. Powergas extends that pattern into gas.

Ardova also plans to expand Powergas’ compression capacity across gas-producing corridors, adding offtake for gas that would otherwise be flared, and has signalled interest in eventually carrying the model into other West African markets.

The deal still needs regulatory approval before any of this becomes real. But the direction is already visible: a filling station that once sold only petrol and diesel could soon sell CNG too, turning familiar forecourts into something closer to energy hubs.