Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has launched the conversion and installation of the first Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles in Ilorin, the state capital.
AbdulRazaq, who described the event as the first of its kind in the country, added that CNG vehicles are safer and cheaper than other petroleum-powered automobiles.
The governor said this at the official launch of the Rolling Energy Station, the firm converting vehicles in Ilorin, the state capital.
AbdulRazaq disclosed that the state government has converted 20 of its petrol-engine vehicles to natural gas vehicles and that more will soon be converted.
“What we are witnessing today is the beginning of a new future marking our new lifestyle. This is the direct benefit of President Bola Tinubu’s removal of the oil subsidy,” AbdulRazaq stated.
The governor explained that the president has backed natural gas over petroleum from last year to now.
“We have converted 20 government vehicles to CNG for test-drive; we shall convert all in a few months,” he said.
Noting that the exercise would create more jobs especially for the youths, AbdulRazaq assured residents that the conversion is safer and cheaper.
Earlier, the chief executive officer of Rolling Energy Station, Mubarak Danbata, had enjoined all to embrace the Presidential Conversion of Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGi), which he described as the in-thing.
“I am free to announce our readiness for President Bola Tinubu’s decision to reduce our dependence on petrol. We are poised to join the government to increase resilience and provide reliable services to the state,” Danbata said.
He said that the station can convert six petrol vehicles to CNG daily.
The coordinator of P-CNGi, Michael Oluwagbemi, urged everyone to embrace the future and commended President Tinubu for his foresight and determination to take the country several miles into the future.