2 months ago
8 ARTICLE AD
Chief Executive Officer and Programme Director of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, Michael Oluwagbemi
The Programme Director and Chief Executive of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, Michael Oluwagbemi, has said that the government’s primary responsibility is to catalyse the adoption of Compressed Natural Gas rather than directly building infrastructure.
In an exclusive chat with The PUNCH, Oluwagbemi said, “The work of the government is not to build CNG stations or conversion centres but to catalyse the adoption of gas.”
Recall that in April, one of President Bola Tinubu’s spokespersons, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed in a statement that the CNG initiative was to roll out on May 29.
He noted that the initial phase focused on deploying 5,500 CNG vehicles (buses and tricycles) and 100 electric buses, while over 600 CNG buses and 2,500 tricycles were targeted for production this year.
“The Federal Government, as part of the many intervention programmes to reduce the burden of increase in pump price on the masses, provided N100bn (part of the N500bn palliative budget) to purchase 5500 CNG vehicles (buses and tricycles), 100 Electric buses and over 20,000 CNG conversion kits, alongside spurring the development of CNG refilling stations and electric charging stations,” he stated.
However, Oluwagbemi noted, “Infrastructure is not something you count as an absolute number. If you have too much infrastructure and you don’t have sufficient assets to use it, then you have overbuilt.
“What you need to know is that as you roll out CNG buses, they must match your infrastructure. That is our policy; it is not a question of whether it is too much or too small. The question is: Is your rollout matching your infrastructure?”
He elaborated on the strategy behind the rollout, noting that the focus was on areas with the highest traffic intensity.
“We are rolling out in places with the highest traffic intensity, which are the Lagos to Ilorin corridor, Abuja to Kano corridor, and Uyo to Benin corridor. Those are the areas that need the infrastructure. I don’t have to put infrastructure everywhere; I will put the infrastructure where the vehicles are,” he expounded.
Responding to complaints that certain regions like Dutse and Kebbi lack infrastructure, Oluwagbemi pointed out that those areas do not have significant traffic volumes or gas availability.
“Saying there is no infrastructure is when you are looking at Dutse and Kebbi. They have no gas. Even if they have gas, they don’t have traffic intensity. The three corridors I just mentioned are where 75 per cent of Nigerian vehicles operate,” he explained.
He highlighted the ongoing efforts to develop infrastructure in these key areas, with significant private-sector involvement.
“Over 120 refuelling and gas companies are in development, and 25 of them are already in operation. I don’t think we can say there is no infrastructure, but what we can say is that infrastructure is being built to match the rollout,” he added.
He also clarified that the development of CNG infrastructure was not a government-driven effort but rather a private sector-led initiative.
“There is nothing called completion; it is a work in progress. It is not government money but private sector investment. The government cannot invest everything you need in infrastructure. What we need to understand is that government is a catalyst. It is not the government that builds filling stations or gas stations; it is private sector-driven,” Oluwagbemi asserted.
He stressed the government’s role in encouraging the adoption of CNG technology, rather than directly building infrastructure.
“The government’s work in this area is to encourage the adoption of CNG, and that we are doing by ensuring that we support the commercial sector.
“We have the gas already, but the question is, why are we not using it? We are not using it because there is not sufficient adoption of the specific technology to use gas to drive transportation,” he said.
In a bid to boost CNG adoption, President Bola Tinubu announced plans to provide one million conversion kits over the next three years.
Oluwagbemi believed this would lead to significant savings on transportation costs, noting, “What Mr President is saying is, ‘I will catalyse the adoption of gas to transportation, and to do that, I am making available one million conversion kits over the next three years to encourage people to use gas that will provide 70 per cent savings on current transportation costs concerning fuel’.”
He concluded by reaffirming that the government’s role was to foster the adoption of CNG while the private sector, including companies like NNPC, MRS, and NIPCO, would be responsible for building the necessary infrastructure.
