President Bola Tinubu has said the Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (CNG) that will power transportation economy will save Nigeria over N2 trillion being used to import Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) into Nigeria.
He disclosed that this will free up resources for more investment in healthcare and education.
Tinubu said this during a broadcast that was widely televised on Sunday.
“Fellow Nigerians, we are a country blessed with both oil and gas resources, but we met a country that had been dependent solely on oil-based petrol, neglecting its gas resources to power the economy. We were also using our hard-earned foreign exchange to pay for, and subsidise its use. To address this, we immediately launched our Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (CNG) to power our transportation economy and bring costs down. This will save over two trillion Naira a month, being used to import PMS and AGO and free up our resources for more investment in healthcare and education,” he said.
The President noted that “To this end, we will be distributing a million kits of extremely low or no cost to commercial vehicles that transport people and goods and who currently consume 80% of the imported PMS and AGO.”
“We have started the distribution of conversion kits and setting up of conversion centres across the country in conjunction with the private sector. We believe that this CNG initiative will reduce transportation costs by approximately 60 per cent and help to curb inflation,” he said.
Aside from the CNG initiative, the President disclosed that the government has embarked on major infrastructure projects across the country.
“We are working to complete inherited projects critical to our economic prosperity, including roads, bridges, railways, power, and oil and gas developments. Notably, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Highway projects will open up 16 connecting states, creating thousands of jobs and boosting economic output through trade, tourism and cultural integration,” Tinubu added.
