Jude Diugwu
The Programme Director/Chief Executive, Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, Michael Oluwagbemi, has said that the Federal Government has offered that the conversion of fuel and diesel-powered commercial vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas compatibility will be free of charge henceforth.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja after the government agency signed agreements with various companies in Abuja, he also explained that commercial transporters under their different unions such as the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, (RTEAN) National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and, among others, would benefit from the initiative.
He announced this on Thursday in Abuja after signing agreements with various companies involved in the conversion of fuel and diesel-powered vehicles to CNG compatibility.
Oluwagbemi said: “Today we’ve just signed with five partners with us here in the Federal Capital Territory that are participating in the Conversion Incentive Programme.
“The programme is tackling the barrier to Nigerian commercial transport operators to convert from PMS (petrol) to gas. Most of them have said that the cost of conversion is expensive, and so what we are doing here today is basically to respond to that concern.
“What is the government doing about it? First and foremost, for commercial operators that are unionised, I’m talking about the members of RTEAN, NARTO, and NURTW, through their unions they can benefit 100 per cent discount. That is, they will get the kits for free and installation will also be done for them for free.
“And this is going to be done through these certified conversion workshops that we are beginning to identify. We’ve identified about 123 of them, five of them are here with us today that we are going to be working with here in Abuja. As we expand across the country we will be activating more of them,” Oluwagbemi stated.
“So if you are a vehicle rider that is operating under Uber, Bolt, Lag-Ride, Move, etc, you will be able to also benefit from this programme. Today we have Bolt here with us that is signing and we hope to add the others very soon. Lag-Ride has already signed up and we are going to send the agreement next week.”
