The federal government has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with key stakeholders in transport unions to facilitate the conversion of vehicles to compressed natural gas (CNG).
Following President Bola Tinubu’s announcement on May 29, 2023, ending the subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS), or petrol, the government began advocating for the adoption of CNG. On August 19, 2023, Tinubu introduced the CNG initiative, aimed at alleviating the impact of the petrol subsidy removal by reducing energy costs for Nigerians.
Speaking on Thursday at a conversion center in Kaduna, Folarin Oworu, the program coordinator of the presidential compressed natural gas initiative (PCNGi), announced that the target is to convert 250,000 vehicles to CNG annually starting from 2025.
Oworu stated that the initial beneficiaries of the conversion program are commercial vehicles. He noted that the conversion process in Kaduna began with 100 conversion kits and that the next rally location would be in Lagos. The initiative aims to cover all 36 states by the end of the year.
“What we are doing in Kaduna today is front-to-back CNG conversion mobilisation,” Oworu explained. “President Tinubu has decided to make conversion free for road transport unions, including NURTW, NATO, and others. The goal is to reduce commercial transportation costs by converting the vehicles of transport unions, which will lower their running costs. The savings are intended to be passed on to the end users, making transportation cheaper.”
“The MoU was signed by our conversion partners at various locations where commercial vehicles will be converted. The conversion kits and the conversion process are completely free, as agreed in the MoU. We aim to convert close to 250,000 vehicles annually starting next year. The conversion kits are valued at between N1 million to N1.5 million, depending on the type of kit.”
Najim Usman, a former national president of NURTW, praised the president’s PCNGi agenda and thanked him for providing free conversion kits for commercial vehicles, which are expected to benefit one million vehicles. Usman encouraged all transport unions to participate in the program to help reduce transportation costs.
