The Nigerian government has recently declared that they intend to dismantle the current high petrol prices and instead aim to have thirty thousand vehicles powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) on road before this number of days elapse from now.
The purpose is to make CNG a commonly-used fuel in transportation sector as well as lessen dependency on PMS. This venture, which is worth N36 billion seeks to promote the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternative means of transportation aside from discouraging over-reliance on petrol.
In his address, Michael Oluwagbemi, Project Director and CEO of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, said that the transition would bring about relief from the burdensome nature of removing fuel subsidies. “We no longer have to spend between N750 to N800 or as much as N1000 to liter because now buying one kilogram would only cost N230 since now we’ll use the under foot gas for this purpose,” he stated.
The initiative involve the distribution of 30,000 CNG conversion kits nationwide valued at N1.2 million each for free within the stipulated period. It has also been planned that a total of one million kits will be purchased by the government, and President Bola Tinubu has directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies to procure CNG-powered vehicles.
The government’s attempt to redevelop the country’s energy sector and reduce dependency on fossil fuels is consistent with such a move.