The Abia State government has concluded arrangements with Coscharis Group to roll out electric vehicles for intra-city and state transport services.
The move, according to Alex Otti, governor of the state, would sanitize and modernize its transport sector and introduce an organized logistics system in major cities of Aba, Umuahia, and Ohafia.
It would equally create an effective and sustainable transportation system for the state.
Otti, during a business meeting in Government House, Umuahia, with Cosmos Maduka, CEO, COSCHARIS Group and his team, said, “Our decision to go electric was well thought out, we did not just jump into it, we looked at everything”.
He explained that some European countries had decided to phase out fossil fuel vehicles from 2030 and some in 2035, while some are still in the planning process to decide when it will happen.
He disclosed that the last administration said that we could only afford 2070 to phase out fossil vehicles. “What it just tells you is that at some point, whether today or tomorrow it will happen,” Otti asserted.
“Beyond that, you look at the economics, what is renewable energy? It is electric; all you need to do is to charge. The other one you need to buy the fuel somehow, whether it is cleaner or it is crude. Compressed Natural Gas Vehicle is cleaner, no doubt, but it is still fossil fuel. So, there are some things that it leaves in the environment.
“Even in terms of maintenance, you buy a vehicle that has 200 parts as against one that has 17 if TESLA is right, but the maximum is 20. So it can’t be the same,” he said.
On the power for charging the vehicles, Otti stated, “Even though we do not have a steady power supply, we manage to keep our phones and other electrical gadgets charged.”
He explained that with Geometric Power fully in control of power supply in Aba, covering 9 LGAs, his plans for the state was to take full control of electricity supply in the remaining 8 LGAs thereby covering the entire state.
Read also: ROXETTES Motors to inaugurate CNG, electric vehicle assembly plant in Abia
“Aba as an island is out of the National Grid technically. So, the remaining 8 Local Governments from Umuahia all the way to Arochukwu and Umunneochi, under the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) program, we are discussing with them on how to buy the Abia part of EEDC from Interstate Electricity, then take excess power from Geometric to Umuahia”, Otti disclosed.
Otti further explained that to help Geometric Power solve the problem of gas, which impeded powering her turbines to generate electricity, the State Government intervened through the Federal Government to step in.
He disclosed that the Federal Government, through the Vice President, summoned the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC and instructed that Geometric should be given priority in terms of gas supply.
He also revealed that a lot was being done to resolve the issues with the Alaoji Power plant, under the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) to produce excess power and distribute it to other parts of the country.
“So, there is no state that is as well positioned as we are to push for electric vehicles. When we looked at it, we felt that it is a way to go,” he stated.
Maduka, earlier in his speech, thanked Otti for choosing them as partners for the project, affirming that they have the required experience, having been in the automobile business for about five decades.
“Let me simply say that you are discussing with the right organization in this project in the sense that this is the area where we have experience. We have been in existence for over five decades and all our core businesses have been in automobiles,” Maduka stated.
Maduka assured Otti that they are very much interested in the project and would bring their experience and capacity to bear and help the State actualize and sustain the project.
He emphasized that Electric Vehicles are where the world is headed and described Otti’s move for electric vehicles as trailblazing as it would spur other States to follow suit.
He said that for the first time, the people of Abia State got it right by electing Otti as their Governor, stating that Otti has “managed things from zero situations to tangible outcomes”.
Josiah Samuel, group managing director of COSCHARIS, in his remarks described the Abia State Government’s electric vehicle initiative as a step in the right direction, adding that he differed with the Federal Government when he was contacted on the CNG bus project.
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