FG Mulls Use of Compressed Natural Gas Vehicles for Mass Transit 

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja 

The federal government is considering the use of Compressed Natural Gas, which the country has in abundance to reposition transportation in urban cities across the country.

The Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adewole Adegoroye, made the disclosure when he received the report on, “Implementation-Ready Report on National Strategy Development for the Adoption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) based Transportation System in Nigeria’s Urban Cities,” in Abuja.

While assuring that the report would be given prompt attention, Adegoroye appreciated his erstwhile colleague, stating: “I appreciate that the last Minister who was here before, Sen. Gbemisola Ruqayyah Saraki, had the initiative to set up a committee to work on this, i think it is a wonderful Initiative.”

Mindful of the time frame of this administration, he said: “I assure you that Nigerians must say something about us that when we were here, that we took steps to getting things done and being in tandem with what the world wants or what the world desires at this time.”

He noted further, that green house gas emissions poses health and dire environment consequences and Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind considering that she is a signatory to Green House Emission Policy aimed at reducing carbon emissions in the environment.

Presenting the report to the Minister earlier, the Permanent Secretary stated that the report was sponsored by World Bank and done by Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), through the Federal Ministry of Environment with highlights on strategic steps to take in the adoption of CNG vehicles in the transportation sector in the country.

According to Ajani, It would help us in kick-starting the revolution in the change of the transport sector, with vehicle conversion to CNG on the adoption of CNG vehicles, for our road transport mode within the urban city to start with.

She hinted that, “Original Equipment Manufacturers in couple of years down will probably not be supporting vehicles that are powered by diesel or gas as everyone is moving towards Electric Vehicles (EV)” adding that the report takes into cognisance how Nigeria can move from diesel and Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol)  to natural gas and in about 10 to 15 years.