The Federal Government yesterday said it is working on reducing the energy cost for commercial vehicle drivers that convert their vehicles from petrol to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by over 90 per cent.
Programme Director/Chief Executive, Presidential CNG Initiative (P-CNG), Michael Oluwagbemi, who spoke during the launch of first CNG Conversion Centres in Mile 2 Motor Park in Lagos, said the move would further translate to over 40 per cent reduction in transport fares for commuters.
He noted that although several conversion centres already exist across the state, the Mile 2 facility is the first to be located within a motor park.
He stated that it was a significant step towards decentralising conversion infrastructure and bringing the process directly to commercial drivers. According to him, “This is the first conversion centre in a motor park accredited by P-CNGi, and similar facilities will be rolled out across all local governments in Lagos. We are making it easier for vehicle owners, particularly commercial operators to access the CNG conversion process, which is at no cost to them.”
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Oluwagbemi explained that the strategic objective is to enable drivers to reduce fuel expenditure drastically and ultimately reflect the savings in reduced passenger fares. He added that while the full implementation of fare reductions may take time due to existing infrastructure gaps and hybrid fuel usage, targeted enforcement would begin at parks that achieve significant CNG adoption levels.
“If a park like Mile 2 reaches appreciable CNG adoption, we will implement fare reductions in collaboration with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW),” he said.
Oluwagbemi further noted that to support the anticipated surge in demand for natural gas, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited will roll out 100 CNG refueling stations over the next 18 to 24 months. He added that private sector operators such as NIPCO, Bovas, and Greenville have already commenced deployment of supporting infrastructure across the country.
He also highlighted the employment and training benefits of the programme. “Over 10,000 jobs have already been created, with 132 accredited conversion centres enrolled under the Technical, Vocational, and Entrepreneurship Training (TVET) programme,” he said, adding that a nationwide P-CNGi Basic Awareness Training would begin in the second half of the year.
While acknowledging that full enforcement will be phased, Oluwagbemi maintained that the process has already commenced. “Our first step is to make conversion accessible and free, and then bring in affordable gas refueling infrastructure. Once that’s in place, we’ll fully enforce fare reductions.”
State Secretary of the Lagos chapter of NURTW, Usman Teslim, described the initiative as timely and pragmatic.