The federal government on Tuesday announced the extension of the free conversion of petrol and diesel-powered commercial vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas to alleviate the severe effects of the current nationwide economic reforms.
Additionally, the government announced that it was in negotiations with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority leadership to offer discounted gas prices, allowing Nigerians to fill up their cars for between N230 and N300 per kilogramme.
This was disclosed by the Programme Director and Chief Executive of the Presidential CNG Initiative, Michael Oluwagbemi at
the Park to Park CNG Conversion Mobilisation event in Abuja, according to Arise News.
Oluwagbemi described the programme as a ‘radical revolution’ that will significantly change vehicle energy consumption in the country.
He said that President Bola Tinubu intended for Nigerians to stop using pricey fuels, pointing out that CNG is still a more affordable and environmentally friendly source.
The event which was to sensitize members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers on the critical importance of the programme in Abuja, Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa also witnessed the handing over of conversion kits to the group.
“We are all gathered here to witness a radical revolution in Nigerian transportation. If you recall, many months ago Mr. President promised us that instead of using expensive petrol, he would enable Nigerians to benefit from the gas that God has given us. We are here today not to talk, but to walk the talk.
“We are here today to witness the handing over of the critical equipment, materials, and conversion kits, to the people that will convert your vehicles and enable your vehicles to run cheaper, safely, and more reliably. Today, we are witnessing one of many actions that Mr. President has promised us.
“Those actions are meant to allow you, the operators in this transport sector, to be able to benefit from the government’s package, but also to pass on this package to our people. We know that as a result of the overall rise in transportation costs, many of our people are asking for relief.
“The activity we are witnessing here today, which is the handover of these conversion kits and cylinders to various organisations, will enable you to go and convert your vehicles so that it can run not just on petrol, but it can run on gas, and to do it for free is a big step in that direction,” Oluwagbemi noted.
The PCNGI boss empasised that it was just one of the many initiatives of the president, which will see the conversion of about 1 million vehicles for free nationwide.
He said that there were just seven conversion centers when the initiative began, but with the president’s assistance, they have since grown to over 120 centers nationwide.
“When we started this programme last year, we had just seven of them. Across Nigeria today, because of the assistance of Mr. President, because of his support for the sector, we have well over 120, and today you will be witnessing a few of them signing this agreement,” he stressed.
In his address, the National Chairman, NURTW, Yasin Najeem said the program would run smoothly moving forward because of the MOU with the company handling the conversion of the vehicles in the zone.
“I will like to call on our members to support and key into this programme. The aim of Mr. President is to make sure that this is a policy for the transport workers of this region.
“We all know that if there is a rise in transport costs, it affects everything in the country because you must use transport. So I want to, on this note, commend the initiative of Mr. President and all Nigerians,” he said.
