The plan by the federal government to convert one million petrol-powered vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered is a deliberate move to take advantage of the huge gas reserve in-country which has remained untapped over the years.
Daily Trust reports that the government had in 2020 launched a scheme to convert over one million vehicles running on petroleum to gas as it moves to reduce reliance on petrol powered vehicles.
The government had said it is more economical to power automobiles using autogas than petrol.
According to energy experts, gas is the next frontier for Nigeria in the wake of uncertainty in the fossil fuel market.
President Muhammadu Buhari also declared 2021–2030 as Nigeria’s Decade of Gas and announced the federal government’s determination to fully exploit the nation’s abundant gas resources to accelerate the development of the economy.
And one of the potentials is to see a huge number of vehicles powered by gas on Nigerian roads in a bid to take advantage of the abundance of gas in the country.
The General Manager, Corporate Communication and Zonal Coordination of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Dr Ginah O. Ginah, who spoke in Lagos at a media workshop said, “The federal government also has a policy on auto fuel, that is, to convert our motor vehicles to use CNG instead of petrol which we are finding difficult to produce.”
He stressed the importance, saying the CNG is cleaner and using it on vehicles would reduce the maintenance cost in addition to generating more employment opportunities and boosting economic activity along that value chain.
“Before this time, we had some filling stations that were dispensing CNG. I ran into one of them in Benin, I think it was NIPCO filling station and this was some years back, they already had filling stations that were dispensing CNG.
“In the Benin axis alone, they had converted more than 5,000 vehicles. The only problem was to ramp up that particular achievement and replicate it in all the states in the country. They were able to replicate it in Ibafo in Ogun State.”
He added, “Gas is very clean for you and it would reduce your maintenance cost because if your car is using CNG, it doesn’t need any deposit of smoke and oil in your engine.
“The question is, 15 years ago, this laudable programme started but nobody picked on it. So that is another area where we are going to charge you, our partners in progress, to bring these things to the knowledge of all the important stakeholders so that focus would be on this laudable initiative.”
Banner Energy, a company converting vehicles to run on gas alongside petrol, said through the auto conversion kits provided by the firm, vehicles can be switched seamlessly from petrol to gas.
Seyi Adejumobi, Head of Operation at the firm, said, “If you have your auto conversion kits, you can switch over to gas instead of going to queue for petrol for days.
“LPG is not a regulated product. The price is controlled by the forces of demand and supply.
“We have converted about 20 cars for NNPC. It is seamless to do. When you run your vehicle on gas, the maintenance cost is less compared to when you use petrol.”
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