By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Federal Government through the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGi), at the weekend began the distribution of auto gas conversion kits to various states across the country
In the South-west, the kits were dispatched from a NIPCO warehouse in Ibafo along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The initiative follows the Federal Government’s recent approval of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) at a price of N230 per litre, providing a more affordable and eco-friendly alternative to petrol, which has surged to as much as N900 per litre.
Launched under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the PCNGi aims to significantly reduce fuel costs and benefit Nigerians by making transportation more cost-effective.
The initiative targets the conversion of one million vehicles through the distribution of free CNG conversion kits to commercial vehicles involved in transporting people, food and goods in line with Tinubu’s directive.
1,000 conversion kits are being distributed to different locations in Ogun, Oyo, Kaduna, Abuja, and Lagos.
The initiative supports the government’s energy diversification efforts and offers immediate relief to those dependent on transportation for their livelihood. The plan includes converting up to one million vehicles, particularly commercial ones, with free CNG conversion kits and installation over the next 18 months.
The distribution will involve collaboration with key partners to ensure nationwide availability.
Engineer Moses Onate, Warehouse Manager, PCNGI Ibadan, noted that the kits, which provide a cheaper, cleaner, and more environmentally friendly fuel option compared to petrol, are expected to enhance vehicle longevity.
He encouraged Nigerians to embrace this initiative to mitigate rising fuel costs, which have exceeded N1000 per litre.
On Saturday, the PCNGi team moved to Lagos where it commenced the inspection, distribution, and installation of CNG kits for commercial motorists.
CNG cylinders and kits were allocated across three centers in the state.
The Federal Government, through the PCNGi has rolled out 10,000 conversion kits across the country, aiming to reach a total of one million by 2027.
Speaking at the Conversion Center in Ojota, the Commercial Operations Manager at the PCNGi, Omoh Imoukhuede, said, “As part of our initiative, we have created the conversion incentive program geared towards ensuring that the CNG conversion is pushed out, especially through the mass transit and commercial vehicles route. .
“To kickstart or activate this, we have started off deploying 10,000 kits, and we’ll start that over the next couple of weeks. We actually kickstarted that today with 1,000 kits going out to different locations in Ogun, Oyo, Kaduna, Abuja, and of course, Lagos.
“We are here today as part of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative set up by Mr. President to create not only the platform for CNG conversion, but also to ensure that CNG is adopted, accepted and implemented.”
Also speaking, Kayode Opeifa, Executive Director, Centre for Sustainable Mobility and Access Development (CenSMAD), maintained that Energy diversification in the transportation sector is key to eradicating poverty.
He emphasized that this current initiative is one of those that really speaks to access for mobility and a lot of the sustainable development goals.
He called on Nigerians in the commercial transportation sector to step up and embrace the transition.
“When this is done, you are eliminating poverty and improving livelihood while making people have access to infrastructure and government services. They can now go to hospital without spending much,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, the partners have affirmed that the push for CNG adoption in Nigeria is here to stay and have committed to supporting the government in achieving its goals.
The MD/CEO of Autogig International Resources Limited, Tope Bukola-Ojo, stated this at the Conversion Center in Gbagada.
“I believe that this partnership will continue and we will see how best we can assist the government in pushing it as we have to leverage on it for our energy security purpose.
It is the way to go. And the fact that everybody wants to experience a greener environment is one of the reasons why we have to push this,” he said.