The federal government has begun the implementation of the free and discounted conversion of petrol and diesel-powered vehicles belonging to road transport owners and e-hailing ride companies to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in Abuja.
This is coming barely 24 hours after signing agreements with five conversion companies in Abuja
The government also expressed confidence in achieving its target of converting one million vehicles to compressed natural gas fuel by 2027.
Officials of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI), who took journalists around major conversion centres, including NIPCO, NASENI/Portland, among others, on Friday stressed that the focus on commercial vehicles in the first phase was strategic.
Recall that the PCNGI on Thursday signed agreements with five companies to provide free CNG conversion kits and installation for commercial vehicle owners as well as ride-hailing operators like Uber and Bolt.
The five companies include NIPCO Gas; Portland Gas Ltd; Fix It 45
ABG Oil and Gas; and the Nigeria Institute of Transport Technology (NITT).
The government aims to convert 20,000 vehicles to CNG in the next three months, with plans to expand to 300,000 conversions annually.
The conversion kits will be provided at a 50% discount for ride-hailing operators, while transport union members will receive the kits and installation for free.
The government has identified 123 certified CNG conversion centres across the country, with five of them signing agreements in Abuja. The conversion program is being financed through the government’s palliative fund, and the government has promised to monitor the conversion centres and ensure the savings are passed on to consumers.
Commercial operations manager, PCNGI, Omo Imoukhuede who spoke to journalists on Friday during a tour of the CNG kit conversion workshops in Abuja, said more centres would be opened across the country in the coming days.
He stated that PCNGI “has been very strategic in everything that we have done in pushing the CNG initiative to ensure that the adoption and awareness comes to light. We are starting with Abuja and we will be rolling out in other states across the Federation. Hopefully and as you can see, work is ongoing, the task will be accomplished.”
He noted that the first focus is on mass transit and commercial transport operators as they were key to the government’s target of reducing transportation cost.
Imoukhuede, said the initiative was focused on ensuring that President Bola Tinubu’s mandate concerning CNG penetration was met.
“Currently, for the commercial operators, we are subsidising the kits at 50 per cent, and conversion and installation is free for commercial operators. Now, we see that as a very strategic point in ensuring that the challenges that are being faced currently in our nation are reduced significantly, especially in the transport system.
“For us, we are very strategic in ensuring that everything that we do in pushing through CNG, that the initiative, the adoption, and the awareness come to light. We’re starting with Abuja.
“We’ll be going out to other states across the federation, and hopefully, as you can see, the work is ongoing. And hopefully, with the direction of Mr. President, we’ll ensure that we’ll complete our task fully,” he stated.
He pointed out that the government was focusing on commercial operators because they are key to the growth of the transport system in Nigeria.
“We’re talking about food. We’re talking about any sorts of mechanical, electrical material and transport all over the country. Now, for the private sector, that is also what we want them to key into,” he said.
Also speaking at NIPCO Plc CNG station, assistant manager, NIPCO Gas, Sunday Ayoola, who took journalists round one of the facilities on Airport Road, said the installation of the conversion kit takes about five hours to complete.
Sunday said that CNG was not only cheaper, but also safer than other fuels.
According to him, cars that use CNG will also have the option of using petrol if they so wish, stressing that when one source of fuel is exhausted, it will automatically switch over to the other, even while in motion.
He disclosed that the kit allows the vehicle to run with both petrol and CNG without any hitches, adding it costs about N4,000 to fill the cylinder at N200/standard cubic meter.
He said with a full cylinder the vehicle could cover more than 150 kilometres.
He assured motorists of the safety of the CNG cylinders, adding that “in case of impact nothing happens to this storage because it is 7mm (millimetre) thick. The cylinder has been designed to withstand impact and to withstand temperature.
“People are always apprehensive about natural gas, petrol and their volatility. Natural gas is lighter than and once it escapes from the cylinder it goes up above air making sure that there is no spool around unlike petrol. When there is leakage of petrol it creates a spool within the vehicle and any slight source of ignition, the vehicle is ignited. This is not so with natural gas and because of that basic property it is safer when compared to petrol”, he explained.
At the Portland Gas conversion centre, PCNGI’s Sales, Business Development and Strategy manager, Lara Obileye, stated that e-hailing cabs were also part of the conversion scheme, noting that those ones will only pay a fraction of the required funding.
“The e-hailing cabs are supposed to pay a fraction of the cost of the conversion while the transport associations have 100 per cent conversion free and cost of the kits 100 per cent free. Today, we have started with e-hailing cabs and the scheme is going to run around the federation.
“We are starting with Abuja today and Lagos and we will keep rolling out. The announcements will be made regularly as we go to each of the states. Nationwide, we intend to convert over 1 million cars within the first 12 months,” Obileye stated.
I learnt that under the scheme which is gaining national acceptance, depending on the make or capacity, conversion will range from between N700,000 to N1.8 million.
“For private individuals, the cost of conversion is a range. It depends on the car type. We have four-cylinder, we have six-cylinder and we have eight-cylinder vehicles.
“So, it depends on the size of the cylinder that goes into your vehicle. It ranges anywhere from N700,000 to N1.8 million. For transport owners across the federation, the cost of conversion is 100 per cent free,” Obileye added.
She urged commercial transport operators to approach their transport associations, key in and register so as to be part of the presidential initiative.
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