The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) has revealed that Nigeria had flared about $12.5 billion worth of gas in the last five years.
The programme director and chief executive officer of the initiative, Engineer Michael Oluwagbemi, was part of the reasons President Bola Tinubu introduced CNG as a way of turning waste to wealth and rescuing the economy.
This came as Ekiti State governor, Biodun Oyebanji who commended President Tinubu over CNG initiative said the state has joined the federal government and has embraced the initiative particularly in the vehicle mobility sector.
Oluwagbemi noted that the country was the second largest gas flaring nation in the world said he president’s decision to stop further payment of fuel subsidy was inevitable as Nigeria had expended 10 billion dollars annually in the last twenty years buying petrol and diesel to sustain economy with the money it doesn’t have.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital during the Conversion Incentives Program Launch, Handover of 15 CNG enabled 16- seaters bus to the state and official signing 7 Conversion centres at the weekend he said it was important Nigerian s begin to use our God-given resources to drive our economy.
The PCNGI boss said, “The new innovation and implementation of the program was designed to generate wealth from the waste that we are doing as a country for many decades. As a country, we are blessed with so much gas yet, we are flaring it .
“On July 31, Mr President address the nation, where he indicated that there was the need to move Nigeria to the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) a natural gas that is cheaper, safer , more reliable and cleaner for the environment, so that the economic could be back on the path of sustainability. Natural gas is abundant for transportation.It is N230 and N380 per LCN compared to petrol at almost N900 and above per litre”.
One of the mandates of PCNGi according to him is to also enable investment, without investment, saying government alone cannot do it all and deliver regulation for growth to ensure that this industry is not only growing but is growing safer.
“Energy transition in Nigeria will require nothing less the 3.5 to 4 billion dollars and a larger part of it will come from the private sector.
“It is to facilitate investment into the CNG sector. It is worthy of note that over 175 million dollars has been invested into the sector, creating thousands of jobs for teeming youths and technicians”.
He added that President mandates on CNG Initiative was to incentivise the adoption of CNG mass transit and transportation sector which give a million of commercial drivers the opportunity of converting their vehicles for free.
“We have been able to raise the number of conversation centres in Nigeria, from 7 to over 125 today, acquire over 34 thousand conversation kits and another 70,000 on their way to contribute towards this whole of a million conversation by year 2027 and acquired 5000 enabled tricycles to create well over 20OO jobs not just for operators but also for those assembling and maintaining them.
“The CNG powered buses being delivered will immediately reduce transportation fares for the teeming citizens of this state.
The impact is obvious in the states that have keyed into this project being able to pass on up to 40 percent reduction in transportation fare to the citizens”.
He maintained that the initiative is about the people. “Mr President hears you, feels your pains and he understands that Ekiti state for example has one of the highest food inflation in the country today, as a result of the rising price of transportation.
“As we handover the 15 buses , the seven initial conversion centres with many more to come, as we enable in this state not just the ability and propercity to convert but the ability to also train technicians as we collaborate with our universities including Ekiti State University (EKSU) and Federal University Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) among many other institutions in this state, that for the ordinary Nigerians, the ordinary Ekiti state citizens, he wants to deliver to you an economy that runs on a cleaner fuel, the cheaper fuel , a safer fuel and a more reliable fuel one that we can turn the waste of over 12.5 billion dollars of gas in the last five years to an opportunity.
“An Ekiti state that will boast in the future of assembly plant that will be exporting gas enabled vehicles to other West African nations, producing innovators and leaders in CNG and automotive sector, the state where citizens can be able to have more free cash as a result of savings on their transportation from work to the workplace and all around”.
Oyebanji who was represented by commissioner for infrastructure and public utilities, Prof. Mobolaji Aluko said, “The state’s CNG efforts began with the partnership with the IPP Limited to use CNG to power the state’s 3mw independent power facility being operated since November 2023.
“We are happy that several existing oil and gas outlets in the state have already signalled their interest in also becoming refuelling centres.
“But most particularly, we urge all and sundry, particularly our commercial operators including tricycles to consider converting their vehicles for CNG use or adopting them all together.
“The conversion and refuelling centres also offer opportunities for employment for our youths in the technical and commercial arena and we urged the youths to embrace them to fulfil our mantra of shared prosperity.
“We will ensure that as many government vehicles as possible get converted so as to contribute our quota in the establishment of a market for CNG and attracting investment infrastructure in Ekiti”.
In response, the NURTW chairman in the state, Amb. Joseph Falope and his RTEAN counterpart, comrade Sunday Adeola thanked President Tinubu for the initiative and promised to support the state government in ensuring the success of the program.
Dignitaries at the event include, Commissioner for Transport, Kehinde Ajobiewe, chairman, Ekiti State Traditional Council, the Olojudo of Ido Ekiti, Oba Ayorinde Ilorin Faboro, Ewi of Ado, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe,Director General, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Oluwemimo Osanipin among others.
