The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that the forthcoming introduction of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses will significantly reduce the price of CNG to N230 per kg.
This announcement was made by Toyin Subaru, the Special Assistant to the President on Special Duties and Domestic Affairs, during a stakeholders’ meeting held at the Bank of Industry headquarters in Abuja.
The assurance comes in light of the Federal Government’s ambitious plan to deploy 11,500 CNG-powered buses across the country next week. This initiative aims to alleviate transportation challenges arising from the removal of fuel subsidies.
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Subaru emphasized that the introduction of CNG-powered mass transit buses will result in substantial savings for Nigerians, cutting transportation costs by two-thirds. Additionally, the initiative seeks to promote the use of CNG as a viable alternative to traditional petrol.
He said: “Now, with this CNG plan, we don’t even have to import what we need to operate our vehicles. It is called CNG and we have the gas here in Nigeria. So, the idea is just to take the gas to distribute it across Nigeria via different truck stations.
“Most gas is not CNG enabled yet and what we are doing is to help them convert their cars so you can use petrol and CNG at the same time.
“We are going to develop an app that will enable you locate where a CNG station is located. We should be able to buy gas for our cars at N230 per KG as against the cost of petrol which is N680 per litre. This should help every Nigerian save about two-thirds of their transport cost.”
The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) was officially launched on Friday, as part of the government’s commitment to reducing transportation costs and advancing environmental sustainability and economic growth.
Responding to the demands of organized labor unions, who had threatened to embark on a nationwide strike, the PCNGI aims to offer affordable energy options, thereby decreasing the nation’s dependence on conventional fuels. One of the primary objectives of this initiative is to provide cost-effective transportation solutions for Nigerians, particularly in the wake of the more than 250% increase in transport fares triggered by the fuel subsidy removal.
Subaru further revealed the Federal Government’s ambitious target of having one million CNG-powered vehicles on the roads by 2027. Michael Oluwagbemi, the Programme Director of the Presidential CNG Initiative, also highlighted plans to establish 1,000 conversion workshops nationwide, with an estimated creation of over 50,000 jobs as a direct outcome of the initiative.
In his words, “Our goal in the presidential CNG initiative, as stated by the President in his October 1st speech is to make 55,000 conversion kits immediately available to the Nigerian public so that we can begin to jumpstart the CNG revolution.
“The palliative programme as described by the president will last until March 31, 2024. So, technically speaking, we are expected to roll out 55,000 within that time frame,” he said.
“Given of course naturally, we are quite a bit constrained when it comes to the number of workshops and there’s a reason why we’re here today. We only have seven functional workshops in the country. In our estimate, we need about 1000 to be able to achieve our goal.”
The introduction of CNG-powered vehicles and the establishment of conversion workshops represent steps toward sustainable and affordable transportation solutions in Nigeria, aligning with broader efforts to enhance economic resilience and environmental stewardship.