Tinubu’s Steering Committee on CNG holds inaugural meeting to promote gas as alternative fuel

Oredola Adeola

President Bola Tinubu’s Steering Committee of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas (PICNG) has held its inaugural meeting to expedite action on the implementation of the Presidential directives on CNG initiatives, as part of his strategy to develop and promote gas as an alternative fuel to alleviate the impact of fuel subsidy removal on Nigerians.

Kimchi Apollo, the Deputy Director of Corporate Communications and Stakeholder Management at the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in a statement obtained by EnergyDay on Friday stated that the PICNG steering committee held its inaugural meeting on Thursday, October 12, 2023.

President Bola Tinubu had earlier approved the appointment of the members of the PICNG steering committee to examine the development and promotion of gas as an alternative fuel, aligning with his commitment to alleviate the impact of fuel subsidy removal on Nigerians.

The statement of NMDPRA revealed that the inaugural meeting of the Steering Committee for the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas strongly focused on devising effective strategies to promptly set in motion the directives outlined in the Presidential mandate regarding the CNG Initiative.

The members of the committee are Mr. Zacch Adedeji, Acting Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), who leads the committee, Mrs. Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Engr. Farouk Ahmed, Authority Chief Executive of NMDPRA, and Dr. Armstrong Takang, Managing Director of Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI).

Others are Mr. Olalekan Ogunleye, the Executive Vice President of gas, Power, and New Energy at NNPC Limited, Mr. Toyin Subair Senior Special Assistant to the President (Domestic), and Mrs. Denike Laoye, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Finance).

Arising for the Memorandum of Understanding reached between the FG and the organized labour on Tuesday, October 3, 2023, as part of the effort to avert the proposed strike, the government agreed to veto N100 billion for the provision of high-capacity CNG buses for mass transit in Nigeria.

The Government in the MoU stated that provisions are being made for initial 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start auto conversion programmes, whilst work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide. The rollout aims to commence by November with pilots across 10 campuses.