·Says 80% of fuel demand from commercial vehicles cost trillions of naira monthly
·DAPPMAN: It's game changer for transport sector
·NNPC Foundation supports initiative with 10 CNG buses
President Bola Tinubu yesterday, inaugurated 30 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered buses at the State House, Abuja, aimed to ease the burden of transportation on the citizens brought about by the removal of fuel subsidy.
This was as the Chairman of Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), Winifred Akpani, described the formal unveiling of the buses as a game changer for the transport sector.
Tinubu had assured that the buses would help ease transportation challenges faced by Nigerians, especially in the Federal Capital Territory.
In the first phase of procurement, 30 buses were acquired from Innoson Motors, an indigenous vehicle manufacturing firm.
At the symbolic ceremony performed at the State House, Abuja, Tinubu disclosed that commercial vehicles in Nigeria make up about 80 per cent of the nation's petrol consumption, costing the country trillions of naira monthly.
Five of the 30 CNG buses were driven to the forecourt of the Presidential Villa, where the President officially inaugurated them for public use.
The President said, "I am very honoured to be here, it is a great expression for me to receive these buses on behalf of the government and making a significant innovation to transportation system.
"Utilising natural gas to power our transportation industry is the next way to go. For many countries especially Nigeria, with our own gas, if we work harder, be productive and innovative, it is an economic necessity that we should embrace.
"I noted the recent yearnings of many ordinary Nigerians on transportation. I thank Innoson Motors and others. We have been committed to change this narrative in this country.
"If we can enhance our energy competitiveness and bring about transformative changes like this, we would definitely be able to achieve the prosperity that we are working hard to accomplish for our people.
"These buses along with the CNG being convertible is very encouraging and promising to enhance our transportation system. Countries like India have mandated CNG for commercial vehicles since 2004 and in Nigeria, commercial vehicles make up about 80 per cent of our petrol demand costing us trillions of naira each month.
"The solution is here. We have it, we will work on it. We promise you things will get better; prosperity will be achieved."
Describing the formal unveiling of the buses as a game changer for the transport sector, Akpani told newsmen after the inauguration, "We are very proud to say these buses have been designed, manufactured and delivered by Innoson Motors, a Nigerian company in Nnewi.
"These are hybrid buses that will run on CNG. Each of these buses is capable of transporting 100 people and they also have alternative use of diesel.
"They are hybrid buses and we are very happy today that we can present these.
"We continue to assure this government of our full support as marketers. We will continue to go the extra mile to ease the problems of all of us not just the downtrodden but everybody.
"We believe that these buses will be put to use especially since we know that more donations are coming and we thank the President for this opportunity.
"I'd like to state that as part of our delivery, we've made provision that each of these buses will have two drivers and we are going to have trained at the facility that they have been manufactured.
"Here, we request that whoever gets the buses at the end please can they contact DAPPMAN so that we can arrange those training, because we think is very important that these buses are properly handled for durability and that they can go a long way.
"We are very sure that this will contribute in bringing down transportation costs and we know that if transportation cost comes down, food and so many other things will follow.
"Since transportation seems to be one of the big issues we have in Nigeria.
"So, on behalf of DAPPMAN, we are very happy to present this set of buses to the federal government of Nigeria."
Also speaking, the Managing Director of NNPC Foundation, Emmanuella Arukwe, said NNPC contributed 10 of the 30 buses presented by DAPPMAN to the President.
His words: "We committed 10 CNG buses to DAPPMAN which is what we have delivered today. We are excited to be part of this initiative. Although it is an NNPC initiative, for us in the Foundation, we are committed to our area of focus which is energy and the environment. As you know, these are CNG buses, they are clean energy buses, aside from that, access to energy is one of the key areas we are focused on.
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"So, it aligns with our vision and objective, so we are excited that we are part of NNPC's drive towards making sure that people have access to energy, especially towards making sure that people have access to duel fuel which is environmentally friendly."
Commenting on its significance to the economy, Arukwe said: "It's very significant because for example filling those 10 buses will cost a little money. We know that CNG apart from being clean is much cheaper because is cheaper to fuel the vehicle the price is going to be way down.
"So, for the public, this is the way to go. Because once they can pay their transport fare as we know people move around a lot, these are very big buses that can take up to 100 people, so it is significant that if we have more CNG buses, the transport fare will be greatly reduced.
"It will help the economy in terms of people moving around which is different from what we have with the PMS."
