Tinubu launches conversion incentive programme for CNG in Ibadan

• Promises to revolutionise transport, commercial sectors
• Explains why PMS is expensive

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday, launched the Conversion Incentive Programme (CIP) for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The initiative, according to Tinubu, was to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal and promote a safer, cleaner and more reliable nation.

The President, who was represented by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Programme Director, Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGi), Michael Oluwagbemi, said the initiative was one of the testimonies to the renewed hope agenda of the administration.

Tinubu, while imploring Nigerians to take advantage of the opportunities in the CNG sector, said that they should not doubt the initiative, but rather allow the nation to leverage its resources.

He, however, lamented that the nation had been depending on imported and subsidised petroleum products, thereby putting the destiny, growth and economy of the nation in the hands of third-party nations.

“Nigeria as a nation has continued to pay for expensive PMS and diesel that is not only detrimental to our health but also our finances. The better way is for us to use what we have that is cleaner, cheaper, safer and reliable,” he said.

“This natural gas is everywhere across the nation. 30 out of 36 states in Nigeria have natural gas reserves. We have enough gas reserves to last us for more than 100 years as one of the largest gas reserve nations in the world and ranked as number one in Africa.

“And to translate this gas either for transportation, fuelling of generators or our industries, it is far simpler than building a refinery.

“So, to get PMS is not only expensive but time and space-consuming and that is what makes it expensive,” the President said.

Tinubu said his administration would continue to revolutionise the commerce and transport sectors of the country through industrialisation of the CNG, saying that there are better days in the nation’s transport sector for an enviable socio-economic development.