The Tinubu-led administration has projected a cost price of ₦250 per litre for Compressed Natural Gas, (CNG), a cheaper alternative to petrol.
CNG was developed as a cheaper source of fuel and targets the mass transport scheme for low-income earners who have been affected by the effects of the sudden removal of petrol subsidy, a development which arbitrarily shot up the price of petrol from ₦190 to over ₦600.
According to Ajuri Ngelale, the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, the Presidency proposed the usage of the product to ameliorate the hardship Nigerians are currency encountering by making it available for mass transport operators.
Ngelale added that to show the FG’s seriousness, 11,500 new CNG-enabled vehicles will be rolled out very soon and will focus more on easing difficulties in the mass transit systems across all states of the federation.
Despite the FG’s move to provide custom-made CNG-enabled transport buses, checks have revealed that the exorbitant cost of converting petrol vehicles to CNG vehicles is a significant challenge in kicking off the project.
According to data published by HydroCIS, the conversion of a 1.6-litre engine petrol vehicle would cost between ₦300,000 and ₦400,000 while tricycles with 4 Stroke engines will cost between ₦100,000 to ₦200,000.
The conversion cost for lorries and vans was projected to cost higher at ₦1.8 million while the projected cost for 4-Stroke Petrol generator engines was about ₦90,000.
The presidential spokesperson also noted that the FG has authorised the immediate rollout of 55,000 new CNG conversion kits for vehicles currently running on PMS to further increase the adoption rate and speed the transition from PMS to CNG.
Ngelale confirmed that the FG, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has partnered with the Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO) to enhance product supply.
“[The deal] effectively is going to roll out 56 new CNG filling stations across all states of the federation within the next 16 months — 21 new CNG filling stations within the next nine months and then 35 CNG filling stations between April 2024 and April 2025, which essentially takes us to the midterm of his first term in office,” he said.