By SUNDAY ABBA, Abuja
Nigeria’s Minister of Steel Development Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu has stated that his ministry is collaborating with the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGI) to set up a CNG park within the proposed Industrial Park in Ajaokuta as part of efforts to drive the CNG initiative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Minister revealed this when he met
with the Programme Director and Chief Executive Officer of P-CNGI, Engr Michael Oluwagbemi, in Abuja to discuss operational modalities of setting up the proposed CNG park, according to a statement issued by the ministry’s head, Press and Public Relations, Salamatu Jibaniya on Thursday.
According to Prince Audu, one of the paramount innovations of the President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope administration is the CNG Initiative, which is very critical following the removal of petroleum subsidy, and would reduce transportation costs by at least 40 percent.
He said: “Mr. President has given a mandate that he wants a minimum of one million CNG vehicles on the road by 2027, so, there is a lot of work that needs to be done, and everything that we need to partner with the federal government under the CNG initiative are available in Ajaokuta.
“One of the things we are also doing is the industrial park in Ajaokuta, where various categories of companies will be operating. So, the CNG park will be one of the many components of the soon-to-be Ajaokuta Industrial Park.
“Everything to actualise the CNG initiative and conversions are available in Ajaokuta, and so plugging in the CNG initiative is very viable; there is gas there, an engineering workshop is there, and a tools workshop to facilitate the construction or assemblies of the kits is also there.
“Mr. President is indeed very excited about this initiative and the partnership between the ministry and the P-CNGI, which drives the plans of industrialising Nigeria, diversifying and growing the economy, and creating jobs under the renewed initiatives.”
The Minister commended Engr Olugbemi for the excellent job he is doing towards actualising the CNG initiative of Mr President.
Speaking, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Chris Osa Isokpunwu, lauded the initiative and commended the partnership between the ministry and P-CNGI, pledging the support of the ministry and its team.
On his part, Mr Olugbemi noted that the steel industry is an absolute necessity for the actualisation of the CNG initiative, adding that steel components are at the very heart of the project.
According to him, establishing the CNG park in Ajoakuta will be an evolution from importing some of the components to manufacturing them and will address some of the challenges with transporting the CNG components into the country.
“The journey with the Ministry of Steel Development was critical from day one, and Ajaokuta is a hub with access to raw materials.
We have hit the ground running already and are optimistic about excellent collaborations with the ministry,” Olugbemi said.
Also speaking, the Sole Administrator, Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, Engr Sumaila Abdul- Akaba, said the project was a welcome development to Ajaokuta, especially in the revival phase of the company.
He assured P-CNGI of the cooperation of the steel company in bringing to fruition the realisation of the project.