Tinubu’s CNG programme will transform public transport – Presidential aides

The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) programme of the President Bola Tinubu administration is designed to transform the country’s transportation system by giving citizens cheaper alternative to Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy, and Mr O’tega Ogra, Senior Special Assistant to the President, Digital Communication and Engagement, said this while briefing State House correspondents on Wednesday in Abuja.

Onanuga said the Federal Government developed a CNG programme to give Nigerians an alternative to PMS.

“If you don’t want to use PMS, you can use CNG. You can see what’s going on in some of our cities: Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, and others, where transporters are already embracing CNG.

“The whole idea is that CNG is the equivalent to PMS. If they sell a litre of PMS at N850; what you’re going to get by the equivalent of CNG is about N230. The gap is very wide,” said Onanuga.

According to him, the government will ensure that about a million vehicles run on CNG.

“The whole idea is that if they run on CNG, the cost of transportation will go down.

“In addition, the government is encouraging many states to embrace urban transportation, so they can help to reduce the cost of transportation in many of our cities,” he said.

He said at present only Lagos State had an urban transport system, and that the government planned to encourage cities like Ibadan, Kaduna, Kano and others to start urban transportation systems.

According to him, the government will also make sure that private car owners convert to CNG at a reduced cost.

“For transporters, it’s almost free for them. But for private vehicle owners, the government has a plan to subsidise the cost of conversion from petrol to CNG,” he said.

Ogra noted that more foreign investments coming into the gas sector would help transform the country’s public transportation system.

He cited TotalEnergies’ partnership with NNPC to develop the Ubeta Field, a gas development project valued at the 550 million dollars.

He said the price of CNG is now N230 per standard cubic feet and from the testimonials of commercial transporters and Uber drivers, those who earned N30, 000 to N40, 000 a day spent about N20, 000 on PMS.

But he said with CNG, they now spend about 4,000 to 5,000 to fill their tanks, which would take them for two days, and then they have the rest as profit.

“So, whether you were taking back maybe 10,000 or less home as profit at the end of the day before, now they are closer to 20,000 profits a day or sometimes more.

“So, the benefits are there. Nigeria is primarily a gas country, and that’s why you see that this government is putting so much effort into positioning gas as the next fuel of the future,” said Ogra.