The Federal Government plans to convert 30,000 petrol or diesel-powered vehicles to run on compressed natural gas, at an average cost of N36 billion in the next ninety days.
The Project Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, Michael Oluwagbemi, stated this during the Park to Park CNG Mobilisation programme held at the Ojota Park in Lagos on Saturday, according to The Punch.
The government said it had acquired 30,000 CNG conversion kits for distribution free of charge nationwide within the period.
Within this period months, N36 billion will be spent on the kits and conversion expenses, which were estimated to be worth N1.2 million for each car.
The move is to ensure the adoption of CNG as an alternative fuel for transportation.
According to Oluwagbemi, President Bola Tinubu is taking action to make sure transporters switch from expensive petrol and diesel to compressed CNG since he believes this will lower transportation costs and, consequently, the rising cost of food.
He stated the President is considering giving one million CNG kits as palliatives to commercial drivers throughout Nigeria.
“Today, we are here with conversion kits. We have bought over 30,000 of these kits, mainly for distribution in the next 90 days. This will ensure that commercial transport workers can benefit directly from the palliative of the Federal Government. For this reason, we are here in Lagos. Ogun, Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states are also here with us.
We will all benefit from this immediate palliative. The President has told us that this is not just to end with 30,000 kits, the target is one million kits. We want to make sure all of you can benefit from this government initiative,” he stated
The PCNGi boss said that more CNG stations would be constructed by the government, allowing drivers to purchase the fuel for less than N250 per kilogram.
“The era of buying N750, N800, or N1,000/litre fuel is over. We are not doing that again. We will start using the gas under our feet so that we can buy it at N230/kg,” he stated.
He further said that a minimum of 150 drivers will receive coupons to have their cars transformed at no cost by any of the 14 businesses chosen in Lagos.
“The installers of these kits are here with us, 14 of them are with us. We will sign an agreement with them. We will still get 1,000 of these CNG converters.
“Some of you will get the vouchers for the free conversion. We will start gradually and before you know it, everybody will start using CNG.
“CNG is good for our pockets, the environment and the food we eat. The prices of food will come down when the cost of transportation comes down. This is the promise of the government. This will get to all of you,” he promised.
