The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGi) has announced plans to provide certain incentives, subsidies and instalment payments for CNG vehicles across the country from May 29th, 2024.
Michael Oluwagbemi, Programme Director/Chief Executive of P-CNGi, made this statement during a televised program titled, “Compressed Natural Gas Roll Out: Prospects for Economic Growth,” on Saturday.
He tapped the committee’s readiness to establish a Nigerian gas vehicle monitoring system to guarantee operational safety from conversion to refuelling.
Additionally, he noted the involvement of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and other agencies in promoting the initiative.
- He said, “Throughout the country, we are rolling out conversion centres. We will be able to provide it at a subsidised cost and significant discount while allowing them to pay back slowly.”
- “For us as a government, it is not really subsidy, rather utilisation fund,”
He said the initial stage of the initiative aims to establish 100 conversion workshops and 60 refuelling sites in 18 states across Nigeria by the end of 2024, noting that the committee is collaborating with the Road Transport Workers Union and other stakeholders to develop implementation strategies.
- In his words, “We will be announcing on May 29, targeted conversion incentive programme for the mass transit sector.”
- “We are working with our partners in the mass transit sector, including the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) to determine modalities for providing the equipment and incentive,”
Backstory
Following the removal of fuel subsidy and the subsequent hike in petrol prices resulting in increased cost of transport for both individuals and businesses, the CNG was mooted as a cheaper alternative to premium motor spirit (PMS) for cars.
In the light of that, the President launched the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PNGi) with the aim of facilitating the transition from PMS-powered transport to CNG.
To address the challenge of increased fuel costs, the Federal Government designated N100 billion from the N500 billion palliative budget to procure 5,500 CNG vehicles (including buses and tricycles), 100 electric buses, and over 20,000 CNG conversion kits.
