The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGi) says it has deployed 160 CNG buses through its transport union partners and sub-nationals, to cushion the effect of high transport cost occasioned by fuel subsidy removal.
Mr Michael Oluwagbemi, Programme Director/Chief Executive, P-CNGi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.
Oluwagbemi said they had already deployed 75 buses to the Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) through the Ministry of Transportation.
He said among the buses deployed to the unions, five each were dedicated for intra-state and 20 each for inter-state.
“Last year, during the yuletide we deployed 160 CNG buses to our union partners, through the Ministry of Transportation, namely – NURTW, RTEAN and NARTO.
“We deployed 75 buses through the transport unions and another 85 buses totaling 160 buses to the state government affiliated mass transit companies including Oyo, Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos states and FCT among others.
“All of these transport companies, affiliated with the state government received different levels of buses, some received 15, 20, 25 and 30 buses and they have started operations.
“In the case of pacesetters transport company, Oyo for example, we deployed 15 buses, and during the yuletide from Lagos to Ibadan they were able to bring down the prices to N3, 200 on a route that normally cost N8,000.
“People that were using patrol buses also experienced a discount because there was pressure on the price of transportation within the parks that they loaded which brought down the price to N6,000.
“These are some of the benefits that we are beginning to see from the deployment of CNG vehicles across Nigeria.
“What we intend to do this year is to focus and concentrate on deployment between Lagos and Abuja and also work with the sub-nationals to fill the gaps across Nigeria,’’ he said.
He said that 15 of the buses were deployed for intra-state, while 60 were for inter-state.
According to Oluwagbemi, all the buses deployed to the various states have started operating at 50 per cent discount, with an effective monitoring system.
He said that the FCT residents had enjoyed 40 days free rides on the buses as part of the benefits of the administration.
The P-CNGi CEO said that residents of FCT were currently enjoying a 30 per cent discount on any ride following the expiration of the free ride.
According to him, in order to enjoy this benefit, Nigerians should get on the buses by utilising specific parks operated by these unions and get a card which monitors the number of passengers on board.
“Ultimately, this is the journey; it starts by us recognising that we should utilise our God’s given resources, which is natural gas, to power this economy and make sure we reduce the cost of transportation and enhance the quality of lives of Nigerians.”
The P-CNGi is a component of the palliative intervention of the President Bola Tinubu administration directed at providing succour to the masses, occasioned by the transitive hardships of the fuel subsidy removal policy.
PATRONISE ONLY GOVERNMENT-CERTIFIED CNG CONVERSION
Menawhile, P-CNGi), has urged Nigerians to patronise only government-certified CNG conversion workshop centres across the country for safety.
Oluwagbemi warned against patronising illegal conversion centres and locally fabricated cylinders by quacks in attempt to convert patrol vehicles to CNG.
He advised Nigerians to visit the P-CNGi website – www.pci.gov.ng to see the list of government approved conversion centres.
NAN reports that the P-CNGi is a component of the palliative intervention of Tinubu’s administration, designed to provide succour to Nigerians suffering from the hardship created by fuel subsidy removal.
Sequel to the fuel subsidy removal and full deregulation of the petroleum products market, the price of fuel increased significantly, creating a need for alternative sources of energy such as CNG and electric vehicles.
However, Nigerians are still sceptical about its usage and have raised concerns about its security, safety and affordability of conversion kits.
Speaking on its safety, the programme director said that CNG was lighter, adding that air dissipates quickly, thereby, reducing fire risks in a contained environment.
On regulation, Oluwagbemi said that the regulatory standard was approved by Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to cover the CNG conversion industry.
He added the Nigeria Gas Vehicle Monitoring System on the other hand, regulates and monitors all gas-powered vehicles.
“Natural gas is safer than petrol and diesel and our aim is to transition Nigeria to the use of a safer, cheaper, cleaner and more reliable energy source.
“The P-CNGi has been promoting the use of CNG through various policies and initiatives since the commencement of the project in 2024.
“This also includes public awareness and enhancing adoption by Nigerians,” he said.
He said that the CNG programme began with seven centres and was able to increase the centres to 193 in 2024.
The P-CNGi boss said that there were currently about 30 conversion centres in FCT alone, while Lagos has more than 70 centres.
He said that President Bola Tinubu’s administration targets one million converted vehicles by 2027 from the current 30,000 to 50,000 CNG converted trucks and vehicles across the country.
Oluwagbemi stressed that CNG was safer than patrol, adding that there had been no incident of failure so far, except for one incident in Edo, in 2024.
He attributed the incident to the use of locally fabricated cylinders by quarks, who were injured while attempting to fill the cylinder for the first time.
“The three persons were immediately arrested and have been charged to court for economic sabotage,” he said.
Juxtaposing CNG’s incidents with petrol, the programme director pointed out the several incidents of petrol explosion recorded across the country, with high mortality rate.
He explained that methane and ethane, being the primary constituent of natural gas, were single chain linked hydrocarbons.
This, he said, contrasted with butane, propane and all linked chain hydrocarbons that constitute diesel, petrol, gasoline and LPG.
“Natural gas is lighter than air. We store it in bulletproof containers that are made of protective cylinders that are made of seamless pipe.
“This means there is no joint, unlike LPG cylinders that have welded joints.
“There are no joints, so it cannot leak. If it leaks, it escapes immediately to air. It has 1001-degree centigrade self-ignition temperature.
“So, it is 18 times less explosive than petrol, and eight times less explosive than diesel. If you are using a petrol vehicle, you are using a dangerous vehicle. You are sitting on a petrol bomb,” he warned.
The programme director further argued that the rate of fatality when a patrol vehicle exploded was nine out of 10, adding that patrol vehicles were more dangerous compared with CNG vehicles.
