Kaduna Govt Launches CNG Tricycles To Cut Fares

Kaduna State has received 150 compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered tricycles under a federal deployment initiative to reduce transport fares, create jobs and promote the national shift toward cleaner energy alternatives.

The deployment is part of the CNG Tricycle Initiative, which began in May 2024 following the commissioning of the CNG Assembly Plant in Sagamu, Ogun State.

Speaking during the launch of the initiative in Kaduna, the platform deployment and recovery officer, Nuhu Christopher, said the tricycles are being issued on a subsidised lease-to-own model.

Christopher said each unit, worth ₦5 million, is given to the beneficiaries at half price, ₦2.5 million payable over 24 months after a one-month moratorium.

He said the programme has so far created over 9,000 direct jobs and 75,000 indirect jobs nationwide.

Christopher added that the Dangote Refinery’s recent ₦720 billion investment in the sector has bolstered the expansion of CNG-powered transport. This investment has helped to grow the CNG market and reduce Nigeria’s annual energy costs by an estimated ₦1.7 trillion.

Meanwhile, the national president of the National Commercial Tricycle and Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association, Sani Hassan, welcomed the intervention, saying it had relieved thousands of operators grappling with the impact of the 2023 fuel subsidy removal.

“Before now, tricycle operators spent between ₦13,000 and ₦15,000 daily on petrol. With CNG, the cost of fueling drops drastically to around ₦2,000 or ₦3,000 per day. This is a huge relief,” he said.