The federal government weekend continued its push for increased conversion of vehicles from petrol and diesel to Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, with the supply of 1,200 conversion kits to five states across the country.

The Director/CEO, Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, Engr Michael Oluwagbemi, who disclosed this in Abuja, said the government was determined to increase the number of vehicles using CNG, as part of efforts to reduce dependence on petrol and diesel for transportation.

Oluwagbemi pointed out that Nigeria's long dependency on petrol and diesel had proven to be too costly, with the country spending between $6 and $8 billion annually to subsidize the products.

"The worrying thing is that the bulk of this money is borrowed," he stated.

He said the target was to have at least 18,000 vehicles running on CNG by the end of the year, with additional 250,000 conversion kits expected in the country before the end of the first quarter of 2025.

"We are expecting additional 12,000 kits in the next 30 days, which I believe will enable us to be able to get 18,000 conversions done by the end of this year, which will be on track to achieve the 21,000 target.

"We expect additional 100,000 to 250,000 kits before the end of first quarter next year. That will then enable us hit our goal of 150,000 directly enabled conversions next year.

"In terms of conversion centres, when we started out there were only seven conversion centres in Nigeria, our target initially was to have 100 of them set up this year, but I'm pleased to announce to you that today we have over 130 conversion centres in the country as a result of our work.

"I think before the end of the year we will have additional 120 to take us to 250 before the end of this year. Every day we have business people and entrepreneurs coming to us, asking us for templates and support in terms of how and what we should do, where we should place these conversion centres, and we continue to work with them," he added.