In line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) which aims to convert one million commercial vehicles from petrol to CNG by 2027, the Federal Government has announced that conversion of vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas is free for commercial operators.
This is even as the announcement of a 50% subsidy on the cost of conversion kits was announced.
This heartwarming news was announced by the Operations Manager of the PCNGI, Omo Imokwede during an inspection of ongoing vehicle conversions in Abuja, the nation’s capital by Journalists.
“The plan with the initiative is to ensure the availability of kits is 100 percent in place. We have kits in port that are being rolled out. The specific strategy is to ensure that once these kits become available, execution will be instant, which is paramount for us.
The turnaround time is very important. We are definitely going to ease the stress on every Nigerian with this initiative.
For commercial vehicle owners, the conversion is free, and the kits are 50 percent subsidized. The initiative and incentive program are pushing through free conversion for commercial vehicles that kick off in Abuja.
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We are working with transport associations. Nigerians will start feeling the impact of these initiatives. In the vision of Mr. President, our mandate is clear, and we have partners across the value chain.”
“There’s hope in sight. We’re rolling out various conversion centres across the nation. Right now, we’ve kicked off in Abuja. We’re moving towards Lagos and other regions across Nigeria.
One thing is clear: PCNGI is pushing this initiative to ensure that conversion centres are accessible to all. The key words are awareness and adoption. Once that is set in motion, especially in the mindset of Nigerians, we’re ensuring that kits are available across the board. The end result is bright.
Nigerians should be happy and rejoice that we have enough gas to sustain us. Why can’t we convert that to energy to power our transport system? This is a testament to Mr. President’s direction and vision, pushing through the initiative so that each and every one of us can benefit. There’s hope for us.”
Imokwede also noted that a reasonable number of the centres visited can convert between three to five vehicles per day on average.
“At different centres, we have sensors that can handle between 15 to 20 conversions per day. Imagine if we have those conversion centres across Nigeria; you’re looking at a significant turnaround time. When you multiply that by the number of conversion centres we have, within the next year, a considerable number of cars—both small vehicles and buses alike—can be converted.”
