The Federal Government through the Nigerian Orientation Agency has purchased 774 units of Compressed Natural Gas-powered “Keke NAPEP” to cut down the high cost of transportation for Local Government Area officers.
The National Orientation Agency in collaboration with the SIMBA Group of Companies, and the Ecomead Acres, launched the CNG Keke on Friday in Abuja.
Addressing journalists at the event, the Director-General, NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu said the project would touch the lives of ordinary Nigerians especially those living in the rural areas.
He said, “The President in his address to the nation several times reiterated the fact that a lot of interventions are in the works regarding how to reduce the impact the subsidy removal has had on all of us.
“Related to that is the introduction of the Compressed Natural Gas as alternative source to power our automobiles. You also recall that the federal government as we speak is accelerating the process of bringing CNG-powered uses to the country. And apart from that about 10,000 CNG filling stations across the country are put in place, so that we can have CNG as alternative source of powering our automobiles.
“As an agency, we have structures and operations nationwide, in all the states and FCT, and 774 LGAs, this will also come in as a very important tool for us, because we will be working towards securing at least one for each local government for our community orientation and mobilisation officers to be able to do their work.
“As of today, it is also difficult for them to move around to support the system, the government, and the citizens for all the education and enlightenment that they require to get by on a daily, so we are also keying into this, looking at how we can provide this for all our offices nationwide.”
Also speaking, the CEO of Ecomead Acres, Kayode Oyin-Zubair said the CNG-powered Keke NAPEP is configured to use both petrol and CNG, adding that it is environmentally friendly.
“The CNG is environment-friendly and it will ameliorate the problems of Nigerians. We have put in. place mechanism to get them to the 774 LGAs across the country,” he added.
On his part, the representative of Wandel International and Simba Group of Companies, Sharma Shamrat described CNG-powered automobiles as the best option for Nigeria.
