The current administration has concluded plans to launch and deploy Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles for mass transit before May 29 as part of activities to mark President Bola Tinubu’s one year in office. Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement. Onanuga said while considering buses and tricycles in addition, the government targeted about one million automobiles by 2027. He says the committee led by Michael Oluwagbemi is tasked with delivering cheaper, safer, and more climate-friendly energy vehicles. Adding the committee had fulfilled some foundational reforms to enable the new CNG and electric vehicles to deliver the future President Tinubu promised. He also said that all was ready for the first set of critical assets for deployment and launch of the vehicles ahead of the first anniversary of the Tinubu administration on May 29.
Onanuga stated that with necessary tax and duty waivers approved by President Tinubu in December 2023, the private sector partners in the Presidential CNG Initiative (PCNGI) had responded with over $50 million in actual investments in refuelling stations, conversion centres, and mother stations. He stated, “Also, a safety policy document on 80 standards and regulations that must be strictly adhered to by operators has been developed and approved to ensure CNG conversions are done safely and reliably. 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. The use of more expensive diesel and PMS will gradually be phased out, when many vehicles, including trucks, run on natural gas, which our nation has in abundance in at least 30 out of the 36 states of the federation.”
