FG/NURTW CNG initiative; Govt promises 30,000 conversion kits at Lagos launch

FG/NURTW CNG initiative; Govt promises 30,000 conversion kits at Lagos launch

A total of 30,000 Compressed Natural Gas conversion kits will be distributed to commercial vehicle owners/drivers within 90 days, Chief Executive Officer/Programme Director, Presidential CNG Initiative, Mr Michael Oluwagbemi, has said.

He disclosed this at the Park-to-Park CNG Conversion Mobilisation held in Lagos on Saturday.

He added that the CNG initiative was to ensure that commercial drivers would benefit from the palliative measure for transporters.

“We have been across over 14 states. We have been to Ilorin, Ekiti, Lokoja, Aba and Port Harcourt. We have been to the South-East even to the North.

“We are confident we have built a national movement for this conversion.

“What we now need is action, and that is why we are here today. We are acting on what Mr President has said –  to roll out and roll out fast.

“We are here to put to action, our talk in the past six months. This is the time for Nigeria to use the gas.

“Nigeria should believe in this project, there might be some challenges but we should believe in it.

“This is our country. So, we need to support this programme; support Mr President. Don’t be negative, we should be positive in this,” he said.

Oluwagbemi stressed the CNG was cheaper, cleaner, safer and more reliable, adding that it had 40 per cent less steel emission and 90 per cent less pollutant in the air.

“Definitely, there is an advantage to use CNG for the environment. We are already flaring gas. What we are saying is that instead of flaring gas, we use it for the growth of the economy,” he said.

The Lagos State Government was represented by Hon. Sola Giwa, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Transportation.

He commended the FG and NURTW partnership on the initiative and for choosing Lagos as the launch site.

A former Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Kayode Opeifa, said the provision of conversion kits by the Federal Government was in keeping to its promise of easing the effects of fuel price increase for transporters.

He said 150 beneficiaries would collect voucher for conversion which they would take to any approved installation centre.

He added that they would refill gas at N250 per kilogramme.

“This will, in turn, increase pocket savings, reduce transport fare and prices of commodities,” he said.

Speaking at the event, Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of NURTW, commended President Bola Tinubu for initiating the project.

He said the project, once fully functional, would significantly reduce transportation costs for the citizens.

Mr Najeem Yasin, a former National President, Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), said that the initiative would positively affect the lives of transporters in the country.

“Today, we are here to launch the programme officially. We started in Kaduna, and today, we are here, in Lagos.

“We appreciate the President of Nigeria for trying to assist transport workers throughout the nation.

“With the CNG, prices of commercial vehicles should come down, and this will affect all sectors of the economy,” he said.

He said that NURTW was involved in the project to make sure it would go round.

“The whole 36 states would get this free conversion kits, and we assure Mr President that the aim would be actuslised,” he said.

Yasin assured that the Federal Government and NURTW would work tirelessly to ensure the successful implementation of this project.

He noted that with this launch, Nigeria had joined the ranks of nations leading the charge in sustainable energy solutions.

Other dignitaries in attendance are Alhaji Aliyu Issa Ore, Acting President of NURTW; Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, Chairman of the defunct National Caretaker Committee; Alhaji Akeem Adeosun, Ogun State Chairman; Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya, Zonal Chairman of the South West Zone; and Alhaji Adekunle Mustapha (Sego).