President Bola Tinubu has mandated that all future acquisition of vehicles, generators, or tricycles by the government and its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) should use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), solar power or electric energy sources.
A statement issued by Presidential Spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed that the President’s directive is also in furtherance of Nigeria’s effort to transition to cleaner energy, as CNG-enabled vehicles have been adjudged to produce lower emissions and present a more affordable alternative for Nigerian energy consumers.
Addressing the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the State House in Abuja, yesterday, President Tinubu affirmed that there was no going back on the energy reforms initiated by his administration.
“Nigeria will not progress forward if we continue to dance on the same spot. We have the will to drive the implementation of CNG adoption across the country, and we must set the example as public officials in leading the way to that prosperous future that we are working to achieve for our people. It starts with us and in seeing that we are serious, Nigerians will follow our lead,” the President said.
President Tinubu also ordered the rejection of all memos brought forward by members of the FEC seeking to buy traditional petrol-dependent vehicles and tasked affected members of the Council to go back and diligently seek value-driven procurements of CNG-compliant vehicles.
The statement added that the President remained committed to effectively harnessing the nation’s gas potential, alleviating the burden of high transportation costs on the masses while enhancing the standard of living of all Nigerians.
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It has been reported that the recent order has impacted new requests made by the Nigeria Customs Service and the Shipper’s Council. These agencies had requested approval to purchase hundreds of operational vehicles powered by petrol; however, they received approval for their requests with the directive that the vehicles must be powered by CNG.
Also, a request by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to buy petrol generators was approved, but the council insisted they must be powered by CNG or solar, just as the Federal Government also expects its agencies to begin converting petrol or diessignalledles or generators to CNG.
The President Tinubu-led administration, which launched the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) in October 2023, plans to roll out about 800 CNG buses, 4,000 CNG tricycles and 100 electric buses in the first phase over the next few weeks.
In making the decision, the government has signaled its readiness for an energy transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy and believes that its policy will unlock new investments in renewable energy, solar panels and lithium batteries.
It also expressed the hope that the policy will be climate-friendly, reduce inflation and slash costs by about 60 percent.
