The federal government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with four Conversion Partners for the conversion of one million petroleum vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by 2027, as part of efforts to reduce the burden of fuel subsidy removal on the populace.
This was disclosed by Michael Oluwagbemi, the Programme Director of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (P-CNGi) initiative, during the launch of the programme in Ogun State over the weekend.
The launch included the presentation of free CNG conversion kits to the partners.
Oluwagbemi explained that the initiative would promote a cleaner, safer, and more reliable environment and mitigate the effects of fuel subsidy removal.
He urged stakeholders, particularly transport unions, to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the programme for the overall benefit of all.
Speaking in an interview with journalists after the distribution of the free conversion kits to stakeholders, Oluwagbemi said that beneficiaries of the conversion programme would be nominated by the three major transport unions: the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), as well as Uber, Bolt, and Oval drivers, among others in the nation’s transportation sector.
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“Fifty nominees from each of the three major transport unions will utilize these four conversion centres. Once these conversions start, these vehicles will be able to refuel at any of the CNG refuelling stations, allowing us to go farther using gas,” he said.
Oluwagbemi further explained that the Presidential Conversion Incentive Programme has, as of today, succeeded in signing MoUs with 60 conversion partners for conversion centres across seven states, compared to only seven centres when the initiative was newly introduced in 2023.
“Now we have identified 123 conversion centres. Of those 123, 60 have signed up with us, and we are expanding to additional cities, such as Lagos, where we will add 12 more in the next few days. Similarly, Edo and Delta states will be activated in the next week or two. Kwara State has already been activated at one site, with additional sites coming soon,” Oluwagbemi said.
“So, the goal for my team is that every day, we must add two conversion centres in Nigeria for the next year. This will bring us to an appreciable number of conversion centres needed to meet the target of converting one million vehicles, as set by Mr. President.”
