The federal government has announced plans to subsidise CNG vehicle conversion kits by 50 per cent for road transport union members, as part of the initiative to convert 1 million vehicles from petrol to compressed natural gas (CNG) by 2027.
This was disclosed by the programme director and chief executive officer of the Presidential Initiative on CNG, Engineer Michael Oluwagbemi, in Kaduna on Tuesday during the Northern Stakeholders Engagement organised by the Initiative.
According to Oluwagbemi, the federal government has procured over 20,000 conversion kits to be immediately deployed for the conversion incentive programme.
“We are launching what we call the Conversion Incentive Programme with members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) being our immediate focus,” said Oluwagbemi.
“This is because they are the operators in the road transport sector, providing 90 per cent of transportation in the country to members of the public. We will be making the conversion kits available to them at a 50 per cent discount. We are also ensuring that the installation cost is free. We are already negotiating with our partners, who will initiate the project next week.”
Oluwagbemi added, “We have already identified eight conversion centres in four states, namely, Kwara, Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and Rivers, which will pilot the programme. Immediately after that, we will start expanding to other conversion centres we have identified, and there are 120 of them across the country.”
The subsidised conversion programme is part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s goal of converting 1 million vehicles to CNG by 2027.
In his keynote address, the Kaduna State governor, Senator Uba Sani, represented by the Commissioner for Works, Architect Ibrahim Hamza, praised the federal government’s initiative, highlighting its significance in transitioning from petrol-powered to CNG-powered vehicles, particularly in the bus category.
“Transportation is one of the major promoters of our socio-economic activities, dealing with the movement of persons, goods, and freight from one point to another. This consists of air, land, and sea, among other modes. The service is known to be carried out for both private and commercial purposes. In our country, the land mode is the major means of transportation, which heavily relies on the use of fossil fuel for its operation,” said Hamza.
This initiative marks a significant step in Nigeria’s efforts to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and promote cleaner energy sources in the transportation sector.
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
