The Presidential CNG Initiative (PCNGi) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with three branches of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) namely; Itakpe Train Station, Ajaokuta, and Adavi units to reduce cost of transportation across the country.
The program director/Chief Executive of Pi-CNG, Michael Oluwagbemi, said the initiative is targeted at reducing cost of transportation along Abuja-Adavi-Ajaokuta-Itakpe road corridor covering the FCT, Kogi, Edo and Delta States in particular and Nigeria in general.
The PCNGi is a component of the palliative intervention of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration directed at providing succor to the masses occasioned by the transitive hardships of the fuel subsidy removal policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
According to Oluwagbemi, more CNG stations have been established for vehicles that will be plying the road corridor.
“We are here to commence activities to mark the Independence Day celebrations which lead us to launch several initiatives aimed at reducing transportation costs for our people. The resolution to sign this MoU is aimed at reducing fares which are currently as high as ₦12,000 to ₦13,000 from Abuja. We are bringing them down to ₦7,000 for 6/8-passenger vehicles and ₦8,000 for 4-passenger vehicles, respectively.
“These stations are very important to us as they serve passengers traveling from Kogi to Delta State through Edo State. From each of these three stations, Adavi, Ajaokuta and Itakpe, we are committed to starting with the conversion of 100 vehicles respectively. Once we achieve the 100 conversions, all vehicles should be ready by the end of October. We need to inspect and evaluate these vehicles to ensure they are ready for service.
“Our conversion centres are ready, with efficiency ranging from 1.2 to 5.6 and I can assure you that currently, we have about 100 car keys with us for vehicles that are being converted,” the PCNGI chief executive told Tribune Online.
He, however said that upon completion of the conversion for each respective operation and after reaching 100 vehicles, the NURTW will be committed to enforcing compliance on PCNGi behalf.
“If any operator violates these rules, they will be held responsible for any penalties, demonstrating the union’s commitment to this initiative. This effort aims to reduce transportation costs from ₦13,000 to ₦7,000 and ₦8,000 making it possible to travel from Edo State to Delta State for less than ₦10,000. This initiative is aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for the country. We respect the level of infrastructure, which is a work in progress. As I speak to you, we have just received great news that Greenville is commissioning 17 additional fuel stations across Kwara, Osun, Ibadan, Ekiti, Nasarawa, and FCT Abuja.
“They are also commissioning stations in the northern part of the country, including Kaduna, Katsina, and Jigawa, and recently commissioned one in Lafia about three weeks ago. These efforts aim to ease transportation costs for our people across the nation. Our equipment is already on the ground, and this week, we recently signed an MoU with Matrix Energy to build stations across some parts of Niger, Oyo, and other regions of the country.
“We are trying to ensure that these stations mean business, and the only viable way is by converting vehicles, which is why we are working very hard to accelerate conversion plans across the country. We are also planning to expand our conversion stations from 8 to 10 and launch them in line with the Independence Day celebrations. The whole idea is that we are rolling out our targeted plans, and infrastructure development is going to be particularly focused on Kogi State and FCT Abuja for the CNG initiative.
“Ajaokuta is a major gas hub in Nigeria and Obajana has CNG stations located between Itakpe and Lokoja. And here in Abuja, six NNPC stations will offer fare reductions for the benefit of the people. That’s why we are collaborating with the transport union, the NURTW, one of the leading transport unions in the country, which has been working with us from day one to achieve this project, targeting about 40% fare reductions,” Oluwagbemi added.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, the Branch Secretary, NURTW Ajaokuta, Teslim Adeyemo, while appreciating the government for the CNG and urged them “spread the CNGi tentacles across Nigeria.”
“First and foremost, we want to appreciate the Federal Government for efforts that they have put in place to subsidize the standard of living of Nigerians through the CNGi. We also want to appreciate this golden opportunity given to the NURTW and we consider it as honour to be part of this partnership. We believe this is a right initiative in the right direction.
“And we believe that if it materialises as they promised, transportation fare will reduce drastically. We want this to be done with immediate effect so that it wouldn’t just benefit the transporters in Ajaokuta, Adavi and Itakpe but transporters across the country,” Adeyemo said.
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