Ogun State, Nigeria: The Ogun State Government has said it will deploy Compressed-Natural-Gas-fuelled mass transit buses to fight the bad influence of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the transportation sector in the state.
Gbenga Dairo, Ogun State Commissioner for Transportation, while taking delivery of vehicles’ CNG conversion kits, said the government identified that the utilization of CNG fuel in vehicles would speed up operations and reduce maintenance costs.
Dairo underscored that the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration’s idea to adopt CNG fuel for state-owned rolling stock assets goes in line with the state’s transport policy objectives co-developed with the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Sola Osasona, the commissioner said the first stage of the project, being carried out in collaboration with Mauto Holdo DMCC, would lead to the installation of CNG conversion kits on 15 Ashok Leyland mass transit buses and two Hyundai buses in use by Ogun Ministries Departments and Agencies.
He added that the modification process for the trial phase would serve as an experiment, noting that this would take between four and six weeks. It will involve the Bus Mass Transit buses currently in operation in the state capital, as well as others to be deployed in the fleet to serve the planned Mowe-Berger Axis BMT project ahead of its full rollout across the state once the anticipated operational and environmental performance advantages have been verified and confirmed.
The initiative is also being co-developed with UKFCDO.
He noted that Mauto had deployed engineers and technicians in the state to coach local auto mechanics and technicians on CNG conversion, adding that the company was working with the state government to set up seminars and workshops for the industrial-scale transformation of PMS vehicles to CNG.
According to the commissioner, the project will lead to a cleaner economy, provide job opportunities during the transformation process, and reduce the cost of fuel.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Political Affairs and Administration, Office of the Governor, Kehinde Onasanya, described the governor as a man who keeps his promises.
He stated that the delivery of the kits was proof of the governor’s promise to achieve an eco-friendly means of transportation.
On his part, the Senior Special Assistant to the Ogun State Governor on Energy, Olaniji Adedapo, revealed that the state government was planning to achieve this through a “Gas-to-Transport” strategy that includes the conversion of all BMT buses to natural gas.
He added that the project was also part of a gas-to-power tactic that would light up some parts of the state.