By Ken Afor
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ambitious Presidential CNG Initiative (PCNGI), launched in October 2023 to provide cheaper, safer, and more climate-friendly energy for mass transit, is nearing its first major milestone ahead of the administration’s first anniversary on May 29.
This was disclosed in a statement by Bayo Onanuga Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy on Sunday.
According to Onanuga, after months of detailed planning and foundational reforms, the committee driving the initiative is poised to deliver on Tinubu’s vision of transitioning Nigeria’s transportation sector toward compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric vehicles.
He noted that as part of the N500 billion palliative budget, the Federal Government allocated N100 billion to purchase 5,500 CNG vehicles (buses and tricycles), 100 electric buses, and over 20,000 CNG conversion kits, alongside spurring the development of CNG refilling stations and electric charging stations.
With necessary tax and duty waivers approved by President Tinubu in December 2023, the PCNGI committee has partnered with the private sector, which has responded with over $50 million in investments in refueling stations, conversion centers, and mother stations.
“The deployment of CNG buses and tricycles and the vision to get at least one million natural gas-propelled vehicles on our roads by 2027 will mark a major energy transition in our country’s transportation industry,” said Onanuga.
According to him, four plants owned by JET, Mikano, Mojo, and Brilliant EV are involved in assembling the CNG buses, with JET aiming to deliver 200 units before the administration’s first anniversary. Brilliant EV will assemble electric vehicles for states without CNG access, such as Kano and Borno, as well as key cities and university campuses.
Onanuga disclosed that a new plant on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway will assemble thousands of CNG tricycles, with the first 2,500 expected to be ready before May 29, 2024.
Major energy companies like NIPCO, BOVAS, MRS, and Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) are setting up refilling stations and conversion centers nationwide, with NIPCO alone planning 32 stations.
“As part of private sector collaboration, NIPCO and BOVAS are involved in offering refilling services for the CNG vehicles and also serving as conversion centres. NIPCO is setting up 32 stations nationwide to offer the services. The company has completed the set up of four of the CNG stations. Likewise, BOVAS is setting up eight stations in Ibadan, two each in Ekiti, Abuja and four in Ilorin. MRS is also involved. It is making efforts to announce where its refilling stations and conversion centres will be.
“The NNPC Limited which had launched an on-and-off CNG initiative in the past is joining the new initiative. It is expected soon to announce the locations for CNG refilling and CNG conversion centres nationwide,” he said.
Onanuga added that the PCNGI is also working with 22 agency partners, including the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Nigeria Automotive Design and Development Council, to deliver 80 Natural Gas Vehicle Conversion and Associated Appliances Standards for the country.
“The Tinubu administration is an enabler of the evolving CNG industry,” said Onanuga. “In collaboration with the private sector, the PCNGI is set to deliver 100 conversion workshops and 60 refueling sites across 18 states before the end of this year.”
