The Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) says it is ready to support the Federal Government’s plan for migration of petrol and diesel vehicles to gas-powered vehicles.
The RTEAN National President, Alhaji Musa Mohammed, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos by the National Publicity Secretary of the union, Alhaji Abdulrahman Amusan.
Mohammed, who spoke at a meeting with some stakeholders in the natural gas sector in Lagos, said that the union had commenced the process to key into the government’s plan.
“In view of the importance of the conversion from petrol and diesel to CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) vehicles, RTEAN, as a major stakeholder in the transport industry in Nigeria, has already commenced the process of converting all its vehicles using petrol and diesel to CNG and LNG model,” Mohammed said.
He urged the government to make the transition process of making Nigerians use gas-powered vehicles seamless and less cumbersome for the union and all vehicles users.
According to him, the union share the vision with the government and will do everything possible to support the initiative of adopting clean energy for daily use in transport sector.
Also, Dr Mohammed Ibrahim, Chairman, National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP), told the stakeholders that the nation had a lot of natural gas in form of CNG and LNG.
Ibrahim said that the FG’s plan was to fully use CNG in the country.
“Based on our projection, we know that a lot of people will migrate from diesel and gasoline to the use of CNG and LNG. The country is fully prepared for that.
“We can assure you that there will not be any scarcity or unnecessary price hike in the cost of CNG,” he said.
In his remarks, Mr Philip Yaro, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Cakasa Nigeria Company Ltd. said that firm was working closely with the Ministry of Petroleum.
Yaro said the firm was ready to provide proper solution such that would make the objective a reality when implemented.
The federal government has disclosed plan to convert five million petrol powered vehicles to Autogas as the country prepares to fully remove petrol subsidy.
The government noted that Nigeria had abundant gas reserves of over 206.53 TCF and a population of about 200 million people.
According to the government, with the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the continuous absorption of an under-recovery deficit will be eliminated when the alternative fuel comes on-stream.
The government plans to build model stations to aid the full implementation of the migration.
