FG grants VAT waiver on CNG buses

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The federal government has announced that it has granted Value Added Tax (VAT) waiver on the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses as part of the efforts to build a cheap and clean energy source transportation system in the country.

It comes as the government performed a symbolic flag-off of the initiative at the presidential villa, Abuja on Friday by taking delivery of some CNG buses under the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI).

According to the chairman of the PCNGI Steering Committee, Zacch Adedeji, who was represented by the Chief Executive Officer of the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Mr. Farouk Ahmed, the government is also seeking duty waivers for the CNG buses value-chain.

Adedeji also disclosed that plans are underway for the government to establish multiple conversion centres across the Country in the next two weeks.

He said: “Moreover, it is my pleasure as your Chief Tax Officer, a position I hold alongside as Chairman of this initiative, to announce that we will be waiving the Value Added Tax on CNG purchases as well as seeking duty waivers for value-chain.

“The goal is to build a sustainable future, leveraging our own cheap and clean energy source gas. He further disclosed that the project is currently about the conversion of vehicles, while it also generates employment opportunities.”

According to him, the delivery of the CNG project demonstrates President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to both environmental sustainability and economic growth in Nigeria.

He implored Nigerians to consider the buses as a symbol of a new beginning, “a journey towards the future, where the power of tomorrow starts today. Let this be a beacon for our country, Nigeria, and an inspiration to the world.”

The Committee chairman explained that the CNG buses are not just a technical achievement but a symbol of President Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to spearheading an energy revolution.

Also speaking, the Project Director of the PCNGI, Engr. Micheal Oluwagbemi disclosed that state governments have already indicated investment interest in the buses, noting that the Rivers State government has already acquired some to ease the transportation challenges of the state.

On the cost of conversion, Oluwagbemi said it varies from the model and type of vehicle, adding that the president has ensured that as part of PCNGI, the committee will incentivize the cost for the Nigerian populace.

He said: “Nigeria is a gas country with a very small quantity of crude oil. The President wants to make sure that the Nigerian public is not subjected to the price of transportation occasioned by international conflagration rather than being able to use the gas that Nigeria produces by Nigerian people such that jobs are also created at home instead of exported abroad.

“The current cost of conversion varies from the model and type of vehicle but the President has ensured that as part of PCNGI, we will look into that cost by helping and incentivizing Nigerians.”

On his part, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State, said as the eighth-largest gas-producing nation in the world, Nigeria’s hydrocarbon gas possession would strengthen the nation’s gradual transition from petrol-powered vehicles to gas–powered transit vehicles.

While noting that universities in the country will be the first beneficiaries of the buses, he called on the private sector to invest in the CNG bus programme.

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