FG Backtracks, Says Autogas Conversion Costs ₦250,000

The Federal Government has said that vehicle owners in the country will pay up to ₦250,000 to have their cars converted to autogas.

Although the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, during the roll-out of the National Gas Expansion Programme on Tuesday, had said one million cars are to be powered by Autogas at no cost.

But while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, Justice Derefaka, Technical Adviser on Gas Business and Policy Implementation to Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, explained that vehicle owners will have different payment plans to covert their cars to autogas.

“The cost varies. “So, in terms of cost implication, it depends on the cylinder of the vehicle and of course, for a typical SUV cylinder, it is a bit higher but on the average, it is around N200,000 to N250,000 and this is for a four-cylinder vehicle but it becomes a little bit higher for a six-cylinder SUV vehicle,” Derefaka explained.

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He also stated that there will be different payment plans for car owners who want to convert their cars, reiterating that the conversion is not totally free.

“The owner of the car basically will decide to say I want to run on autogas or CNG or LNG and like the honourable minister had mentioned it as well, conversion basically, has different strands, you can partner with your bank and then the bank will now agree with the conversion centre to say ‘Convert this our customer’s car for free.’ Not free in its entirety,” he added.

“But then you now go and covert your vehicle. What happens is that the installer will put some form of mechanism that each time you buy the gas; a certain amount will be deducted to pay for the conversion kits.”

Derefaka dismissed fears that many Nigerians will see the conversion fee as expensive, noting that payment can be done within five to seven months.