All is now ready for the delivery of the first set of critical assets for the deployment and launch of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative ahead of the first anniversary of the Tinubu administration on May 29.
According to the presidency, which stated on Sunday in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Nigeria will take “some baby steps” to join nations that already have large fleets of CNG vehicles by the end of May.
After months of detailed planning and background work, the committee driving the initiative is set to deliver on President Tinubu’s vision and promise, the statement said.
Already, the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) committee, led by Michael Oluwagbemi, has delivered some major foundational reforms to enable the new CNG and Electric Vehicles future the president promised.
The statement affirmed, “After the removal of the wasteful fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu launched the Presidential CNG Initiative in October last year to deliver cheaper, safer, and more climate-friendly energy. The CNG Initiative was designed to deliver compressed natural gas, especially for mass transit.”
“The Federal Government, as part of the many intervention programs to reduce the burden of the increase in pump price on the masses, provided N100 billion (part of the N500 billion palliative budget) to purchase 5500 CNG vehicles (buses and tricycles), 100 Electric buses, and over 20,000 CNG conversion kits, alongside spurring the development of CNG refilling stations and electric charging stations,” it added.
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The statement observed that with necessary tax and duty waivers approved by President Tinubu in December 2023, the PCNGI committee is partnering with the private sector to deliver on the initiative.
The presidency maintained that the Tinubu administration has opened a new industry, along with creating thousands of new jobs.
“In all, over 600 buses are targeted for production in the first phase, which will be accomplished this year,” it noted.
“As part of private sector collaboration, NIPCO and BOVAS are involved in offering refilling services for the CNG vehicles and also serving as conversion centers,” the statement added.
“The Tinubu administration is an enabler of the evolving CNG industry,” it concluded.