Amid the ongoing United States-Israel conflict with Iran and the rising prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) affecting commuters, President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate deployment of approximately 100,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) conversion kits across the country.
Executive Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas (Pi-CNG), Ismaeel Ahmed, disclosed this to State House Correspondents shortly after a meeting with President Tinubu.
Checks revealed that the geo-political tension in the Middle East has pushed the price of crude oil to $90 per barrel while marketers sell petrol as high as N1,400 at retail outlets across the country.
Ahmed maintained that to mitigate the effect of volatility in the price of petrol on commuters, President Tinubu has mandated the Pi-CNG initiative to accelerate the rollout of CNG infrastructure and alternative mobility solutions nationwide.
He said: “The President, as usual, is always trying to get information on what is going on, especially with the war in the Middle East and the rising cost of petrol and diesel.
“He wanted to know what we are doing at Pi-CNG and EV to scale up the availability of gas and CNG everywhere in the country so that people would have less cost of transportation.”
He further revealed that in compliance with President Tinubu’s directive, about 100,000 CNG conversion kits would be deployed within the next few weeks.
“So we have about 100,000 kits that we’re going to deploy in the next two to three weeks. The conversion centres will all be bustling with a lot of activities.”
The Pi-CNG chairman added that the initiative will also fast-track the development of infrastructure for CNG refuelling and electric vehicle charging across the country.
According to Ahmed, President Tinubu specifically directed that infrastructure expansion should focus on key transportation corridors, particularly in the northern part of the country.
“We must be able to fast-track the infrastructure in bringing gas, CNG and electric mobility charging infrastructure to every part of the country, especially within the Northern Corridor.”
He told State House Correspondents that the present administration is already developing a network of refuelling stations and charging facilities to support the transition to gas-powered and electric vehicles.
Ahmed disclosed that about 77 CNG refilling stations are currently at various stages of development nationwide, citing Kano as an example where two Liquefied Compressed Natural Gas (LCNG) stations are already operational while several “daughter stations” are under construction.
He said several refuelling points would be established along major transport routes stretching from Lokoja through Abuja, Kaduna, Zaria and Kano up to Maiduguri.
He said: “These are all places that we are going to litter with a lot of refuelling units.”
Ahmed further revealed that the Pi-CNG initiative is working with local and international manufacturers to support vehicle conversion and the local assembly of CNG-powered and electric vehicles.
He said in response to increase in importation of electric vehicles, the Pi-CNG programme is also collaborating with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to deploy solar-powered charging stations that can support electric mobility, particularly in off-grid locations.
“People are already bringing in their electric vehicles regardless. What we have to do now is to ensure that there is enough infrastructure for them to work with, especially off-grid.”
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