The Federal Government has recently taken delivery of 60 new locally assembled Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) hybrid buses. This significant milestone was announced on Thursday through the government’s official X account. The buses were provided by Jet Motor Company under the Presidential CNG Initiative, marking an important step in the government’s plan to enhance the transportation sector.
The delivery of these buses is part of a broader strategy aimed at providing affordable and efficient transport solutions for Nigerians. The vehicles were handed over to a team that included representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the Presidential Initiative on CNG (Pi-CNG). The handover ceremony took place at Jet Motor’s manufacturing facility in Ajah, Lagos State, highlighting the local production efforts involved.
President Bola Tinubu, in a recent national broadcast, addressed the issue of Nigeria’s dependency on oil and the neglect of its gas resources. During the #EndBadGovernance protests, Tinubu emphasized that despite Nigeria’s wealth in both oil and gas, the country had been overly reliant on oil-based petrol, ignoring the potential benefits of its gas resources. The previous administration had also been subsidizing fuel costs, which led to significant financial strain.
Tinubu’s administration is committed to changing this narrative by focusing on the development and use of CNG. The President noted, “We are a country blessed with both oil and gas, but we inherited a situation where only oil-based petrol was used, neglecting our gas resources. We were also using our foreign exchange to subsidize fuel. To address these issues, we launched the Compressed Natural Gas Initiative to transform our transportation sector and reduce costs.”
He further explained that this initiative aims to save over N2 trillion each month, a substantial amount that was previously spent on importing petrol and diesel. This savings is intended to be redirected towards crucial areas such as healthcare and education, which will benefit the country significantly.
Additionally, Tinubu announced that his administration plans to distribute one million CNG conversion kits at extremely low or no cost to commercial vehicles. These vehicles are major consumers of imported petrol and diesel, accounting for about 80% of the total consumption. By providing these conversion kits, the government hopes to make a substantial impact on transportation costs.
The distribution of conversion kits is already underway, with the establishment of conversion centers across the country in collaboration with the private sector. This initiative is expected to reduce transportation costs by approximately 60%, which will, in turn, help curb inflation and make goods and services more affordable for Nigerians.
