Tag: P-CNGI

• Takes free bus conversion to Lagos parks

The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (P-CNG) initiative has asked private car owners interested in converting their vehicles from petrol to CNG to key into a financing scheme that allows them to pay the cost of conversion gradually.

Programme Director/Chief Executive, Presidential CNG Initiative (P-CNG), Michael Oluwagbemi, broke the news in Lagos, yesterday during a sensitisation programme at Lagos commercial bus parks.

He explained that the financing scheme would soon be inaugurated by the Federal Government to enable many private car owners to enjoy the benefits of CNG with a structured payment plan.

He said the P-CNG is also working to actualise the ongoing campaign to get 10,000 commercial buses converted from petrol to CNG free of charge in Lagos and Abuja.

Oluwagbemi, said the group decided that in the next 10 weeks, 10,000 commercial buses would benefit from the free conversion plan.

He said the inauguration of the Portland Gas CNG Mobile Refill Units in Ojota, Lagos, was a major step to ensure that more CNG vehicles are refilled with ease.

He said: “The visit to motor parks is just one of our many sites, where we are having 10 for 10- that is, in 10 weeks we want to register 10,000 commercial buses, between Lagos and Abuja. The buses will be converted from petrol to CNG. We started in Abuja, and we have been in Lagos now for the past one week, and we are going to continue in Lagos. The plan is that up till about the end of March, we will have 10,000 registered commercial buses converted to CNG.”

Oluwagbemi explained that the scheme aligns with the Presidential directive that one million vehicles will be converted to CNG in three years.

Read Also: P-CNGi has deployed 160 buses through NARTO, NURTW, others, says CEO

“But every great journey starts with a step. In the first 10 weeks of the year, we are on course already. We already have over 5,000 cars registered in the last four weeks. So, that means we are on course,” he said.

He said his team is in Lagos, to meet the commercial bus drivers in their own offices. “We are not telling them to come to our office. We are coming to them, where they are. We are meeting and convincing them to convert their vehicles to CNG and enjoy all the benefits that come with it,” he said.

Oluwagbemi, said the plan is to lower the cost of transportation and make people’s lives better.

“The commercial buses are what 90 percent of Nigerians use, to go from one place to the other. If you lower the cost of operating these buses by 80 to 90 per cent, when you convert them to CNG, that will make life better for most Nigerians,” he said.

The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGi) has said it had deployed 160 CNG buses through its transport union partners and sub-nationals.

The agency said this would cushion the effect of high transport cost occasioned by fuel subsidy removal.

P-CNGi’s Programme Director/Chief Executive, Mr. Michael Oluwagbemi, announced this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja.

Oluwagbemi said they had already deployed 75 buses to the Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) through the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

The agency boss said among the buses deployed to the unions, five each were dedicated to intra-state and 20 each to inter-state.

“Last year during the Yuletide, we deployed 160 CNG buses to our union partners through the Ministry of Transportation, namely the NURTW, RTEAN, and NARTO.

“We deployed 75 buses through the transport unions and another 85 buses totaling 160 buses to the state government affiliated mass transit companies including Oyo, Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), among others.

“All of these transport companies, affiliated with the state governments, received different levels of buses: some received 15, 20, 25, and 30 buses, and they have started operations.

“In the case of Pacesetters Transport Company in Oyo State, for example, we deployed 15 buses. During the Yuletide, from Lagos to Ibadan, they were able to bring down the prices to N3,200 on a route that normally cost N8,000.

“People that were using patrol buses also experienced a discount because there was pressure on the price of transportation within the parks where they loaded passengers, which brought down the price to N6,000.

“These are some of the benefits that we are beginning to see from the deployment of CNG vehicles across Nigeria.

Read Also: P-CNGI commences conversion, installation for transporters free of charge

“What we intend to do this year is to focus and concentrate on deployment between Lagos and Abuja and work with the sub-nationals to fill the gaps across Nigeria,” he said.

Oluwagbemi said 15 of the buses were deployed for intra-state, while 60 were for inter-state.

According to him, all the buses deployed in the various states have started operating at 50 per cent discount with an effective monitoring system.

Oluwagbemi said the FCT residents had enjoyed 40 days of free rides on the buses as part of the benefits of the administration.

The P-CNGi CEO said residents of the FCT were currently enjoying a 30 per cent discount on any ride following the expiration of the free ride.

He stressed that to enjoy this benefit, Nigerians should utilise specific parks operated by the unions and get a card that monitors the number of passengers on board.

“Ultimately, this is the journey. It starts by us recognising that we should utilise our God-given resource, which is natural gas, to power this economy and make sure we reduce the cost of transportation and enhance the quality of lives of Nigerians,” Oluwagbemi added.

The P-CNGi is a component of the palliative intervention of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration directed at providing succour to the masses, occasioned by the transitive hardships of the fuel subsidy removal policy.

The Federal Government through its Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative P-CNGI has commenced the free of charge conversion and installations of kits for commercial vehicles.

P-CNGI Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Michael Oluwagbemi, on Thursday announced a free of charge conversion and installations of kits for transport associations.

Speaking during a road show of the initiative in Abuja on Friday day, P-CNGI, Sales and Business Development, Manager, Lara Ogunleye said: “This is because yesterday (on Thursday) we announced that we are going to do this for commercial so it is happening this morning. We started this morning and this is for Bolt commercial.”

But Ogunleye noted that P-CNGI has begun the conversion of commercial vehicles with the e-hiring cabs.

A bolt driver, Mr. Udechukwu

Ejike Francis, who converted his vehicle at the NASENI/Portland Gas workshop in Jabi, confirmed to reporters that the service was actually free of charge. 

“It is for free because they didn’t ask me for money,” he began. 

Continuing, the driver said: “I am very happy. I advise everyone to come and convert his or her car because it is good.”

Francis noted that he used to spend N30,000 on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) petrol daily but the CNG, which he spends N3,500 to N7,000 on daily, has brought him some relief.

“I am converting from petrol to CNG because petrol is more expensive than CNG. Like in a day, I buy petrol of about N30,000 but with this CNG it is N3,500 to N7,000,” he said.

Ogunleye advised other commerce vehicles operators to get in touch with their registered association on directives of where to do their conversion.

She said: “For transport owners across the federation the cost of conversion is 100% free to you. Please go to your transportation association key in, and go to your locations, we would register you, take all your details and advise you on the conversion centre you can go, present your car and get conversion form and all of this is the courtesy of the President.”

She, however, explained that after the conversion the P-CNGI trains the drivers to understand the mode of operation.

She said the drivers are educated on precaution, checking of gas, thermometer, and switching from petrol to gas.

Her words:  “The drivers have to undergo a training before they can leave the conversion centre to understand what conversion was done in their car, what items have been put in, the safety measures they ought take for refueling and checking on how to use the different conversion kits equipment that have been placed in their cars, how to check their gas thermometer and how to switch CNG and petrol.”

P-CNGI, Commercial Operations, Manager, Mr. Omoh Imoukuede, said the initiative kicked started with the mass transit because commercial operators are key to the transport system in the country.

He said P-CNGI is in the commercial aspect of transportation in order to reduce the cost of running their vehicles and cushioning other cost for progress.

“The first thing we have to do is mass transit. Commercial operators are key, especially in the transport system in Nigeria. 

“For now as we key into this initiative we are in the commercial aspect of transport is critical in ensuring that there is progress and the cost of running your vehicle, the CNG is what we are promoting to cushion your cost,” he said. 

Read Also: Fed Govt to offer free CNG kits, installation to NARTO, NURTW, RTEAN

The road show, which started from NipCo CNG station near Gosa market on airport road, stormed Portland/NASENI workshop and proceeded to Tarish Nig Automobile service, workshop in Jahi.

Addressing reporters, its Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Isah Muntar said the workshop usually inspects all the vehicles before conversion because some are not fit for conversion.

He said, “Before a car is converted there are basic things you must look at. Number one, the car must be inspected. “This is to know whether the car is fit for conversion. It is not just every car you bring in we just go ahead to convert. We should also know the state of the engine and the performance of the car before it can be converted. 

“And after that has been checked out we now do what we call a design check to look at where the parts fit in the vehicle that will not affect other existing parts of the vehicle.”