Execution of petrol-to-gas auto plan to begin with commercial vehicles –Osinbajo

The Nigerian government’s petrol-to-gas auto conversion plan, which looks to provide alternative energy in the form of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for gasoline-powered cars plying Nigerian roads, will begin with commercial vehicles, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said.

The conversion is already at its pilot stage in Edo State, where trucks belonging to Dangote Industries Limited have been transformed to use gas, Osinbajo revealed in a statement issued on Monday by Laolu Akande, his media aide and titled “President Understands Pains of Nigerians, Working out further Palliatives – VP Osinbajo.”

“One of the ways is by using Compressed Natural Gas. Government is committed to do the conversion. First of all, we are starting with commercial vehicles.

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“Most commercial transporters will have the capacity to use both gas and petrol. That is already being done experimentally in Edo State,” the vice president said.

The campaign to deepen domestic gas utilisation via the uptake of CNG as a cheaper alternative to petrol, according to government, and as a source of clean energy shaping up, backed by a N250 billion stimulus package which the central bank launched in September.

“Dangote, for instance, has converted all his trucks to the use of CNG, and that is 4,000 or even more of those trucks.

“It is not a particularly difficult thing to do for the commercial transporters, it may be expensive for the individual but that is also part of the commitment of government, to be able to do the conversion, and the price of gas comes at about almost half the price of petrol,” Mr Osinbajo added.