FG, NIPCO, Others’ CNG Initiative Targets 25,000 Jobs, $2.5bn Investments in Three Years

Ejiofor Alike                                                         

The Programme Director and Chief Executive of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative, Michael Oluwagbemi, has announced the federal government’s plan to target over 25,000 jobs and $2.5billion investments by 2027.

The federal government’s CNG initiative is being implemented by the NNPC Limited, NIPCO Gas Limited, a subsidiary of NIPCO Plc and other stakeholders.

Oluwagbemi made this known during a recent Presidential CNG stakeholders’ engagement workshop held in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

This is also coming as the Managing Director of NIPCO Gas Limited, Nagendra Verma has announced the company’s plans to inaugurate four new CNG stations in Lagos next month.                                                                                                              NIPCO Gas Limited pioneered the CNG initiative in Nigeria.

Oluwagbemi said the CNG initiative was part of palliative measures to ease the burden of the removal of fuel subsidy.

He called on Nigerians to embrace the new initiatives by the federal government as part of palliatives to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy in the country.

Oluwagbemi said: “In the coming weeks, we are going to be announcing the conversion incentives programme which will enable Nigerians currently using PMS (petrol) and diesel to be able to convert their vehicles at designated places across the country at a discounted price based on certain pre-qualification under the palliative programme of the federal government.”

According to him, “the President has said we need to convert one million vehicles by 2027. We need 1,000 conversion shops and we need over 3,000 filing stations just like this. You can imagine the level of investment required for this.

“In order to sustain one million vehicle conversions by 2027, we need 25,000 technicians. So, the job creation potential is an opportunity for job creation in addition to our gross domestic product, $2.5 billion worth of investment to be mobilised in the next four years and of course more than $25 billion added to our GDP.”                                                             Also speaking to journalists recently on the efforts of his company and the NNPC Limited at a separate briefing in Lagos, the Managing Director of NIPCO Gas Limited, Verma said CNG is a viable alternative fuel, and commended the federal government and the NNPC for supporting the initiative. 

He also said NIPCO is in partnership with NNPC Limited to construct 35 auto CNG stations in phases.

“The completion of these four CNG stations in Lagos marks a significant milestone, offering motorists an alternative to petrol amidst long queues at filling stations,” he said.

“The facilities would be opened for commercial operations within April and May to become the first of its kind in the state which is now contending with long queues at filling stations,” he added.

Verma underscored the competitiveness of CNG compared to traditional fuels.

He said for cars, taxis, and tricycles, CNG is sold at N200 per standard cubic feet (SCF) or standard cubic meter (SCM) against the petrol price of N610 per litre, in Lagos and N230 per SCM against the petrol price of N670 per litre in Abuja.

For heavy commercial vehicles, Verma said CNG is being sold at N260 per SCM against the diesel price of N1,250 per litre in Lagos and N290 per SCM against the diesel price of N1,300 per litre in Abuja.

He expressed confidence in CNG being the preferred fuel, especially with government support and media advocacy.

“NIPCO Gas is sure that with the continuous focus and push by the current government, AutoCNG will become the fuel of choice for Nigeria, which has the potential to reduce the pressure on importation as well as on forex,” he added.