250,000 Vehicles to be Converted  to CNG Annually, Says Oworu

John Shiklam in Kaduna

Programme Coordinator of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI), Folarin Oworu, has said that 250,000 vehicles are being targeted for conversion annually beginning from 2025.
The Presidential CNG initiative (CNGi) is one of the measures adopted by President Bola Tinubu’s administration aimed at mitigating the effects of fuel subsidy removal on the masses.

Speaking on Thursday at Kaduna Park Rally, the conversion centre, Oworu, said pioneer beneficiaries of the conversion are commercial vehicles.
He said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with key stakeholders in the transport unions had been signed.
He said the conversion in Kaduna kicked-off with 100 conversion kits, adding that the next point of the rally would be Lagos.
Oworu said before the year runs out, the 36 states must have been covered.

He said: “What we are doing in Kaduna today is front to back CNG conversion mobilisation. Mr. President has decided to make conversion free for the road transport unions, that is, the NURTW, NATO and other road transport unions.
“The idea is to bring down the cost of commercial transportation by converting the vehicles of transport unions to make their running cost cheaper.
“The idea is for them to translate this savings up to the end users by making transportation cheaper.

“We are starting here in Kaduna, and from Kaduna, we shall move to Lagos, and before the end of the year, we would have gone round the whole 36 states.
“The signing of the MoU was done by the conversion partners we have at the various locations where commercial vehicles will go and have their vehicles converted.

“The conversion kits are one 100 per cent free. The conversion cost is 100 per cent free. That is the agreement in the MoU.
“So we are targeting close 250,000 conversion of vehicles per year, starting from next year.
“The conversion kits worth N1 million to N1.5 million depending on the type of kits you have.”

In his goodwill message, a former National President of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Alhaji Najim Usman commended President Tinubu’s initiative on the P-CNGi agenda, aimed at converting commercial vehicles to CNG.
He lauded the president for his support to the transport sector and the decision to provide free conversion kits to commercial vehicles, estimated to benefit one million vehicles.
Usman called on all transport unions to key into the programme, which aims at reducing transportation cost.