Moves by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and state governors to force down public transport costs using compressed natural gas (CNG) have been welcomed by the country’s clean energy agency.
Following talks with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, President Tinubu announced that state leaders had agreed to introduce measures aimed at cutting transport fares by leveraging the lower operational costs of CNG and electric vehicles.”The commitment by states… goes to the heart of what we must all ultimately achieve,” said Ismaeel Ahmed, head of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (Pi-CNG & EV). “Benefits of this policy must not only be for the vehicle owner; they must be felt by citizens as well.”
Nigeria has been pushing to shift its transport sector away from petrol and diesel following the removal of a decades-old fuel subsidy in May 2023, which saw transport fares double in many parts of the country. According to President Tinubu, the federal government has already financed the conversion of more than 120,000 vehicles to CNG nationwide, with a further 100,000 conversion kits currently in the pipeline. Infrastructure expansion is also underway through the state-backed Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, which is financing over 100 gas projects, including 15 mother stations and 86 daughter stations.
President Tinubu has now ordered the deployment of an additional 500 refuelling points, aiming for a total network of 1,000 nationwide. Mr Ahmed stated that deep collaboration between federal agencies, state governments, transport unions, and financial institutions would now be critical to ensure that lower fuel costs directly lower passenger fares and freight rates across Africa’s most populous nation.
Add Comment