Buhari To Nigerians: “Embrace Gas As Alternative To Fuel”

President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Nigerians to utilise gas as an alternative to fuel in the country.

A statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adeshina, said the President made this call on Tuesday during the unveiling of the National Gas Expansion Programme and National Autogas Roll-out Initiative in Abuja.

“I, therefore, encourage everyone to embrace gas in form of LPG, CNG and LNG as an alternative fuel for autos and other prime-movers,” the statement quoted him as saying.

“The Minister of State Petroleum Resources is hereby directed to commence the process of hand over of mass transit buses to Organized Labour as part of our government’s pledge to continue providing the support that will ease the transportation challenges Nigerians are facing at this time.”

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In his remarks at the event, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva said the Ministry is focusing on the development of skills, technology and manpower as well as growth in the utilisation of LPG, CNG and LNG.

He added that the National Gas Expansion programme which was initiated this year to boost the utilization of gas in the short and medium-term “is expected to create two million jobs per annum, promote skills acquisition and enhance technology transfer in addition to growing the nation’s GDP.”

On his part, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kolo Kyari disclosed that the Federal Government had spent over ₦3 trillion subsidizing the pump price of petroleum products particularly PMS from 2016 to 2019.

He insisted that the subsidy regime did not benefit the masses that the President is passionate about, adding that the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have made it impossible to continue with the onerous subsidy regime.