President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the country to patronise technologies and products of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) to support Made-in-Nigeria goods and reduce importation.
The President represented by President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio made the declaration while commissioning NASENI-Portland Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Conversion, Filling, Reverse Engineering and Training Centre in Utako Abuja on Friday, May 31, 2024.
President Bola Tinubu who doubles as Chairman, NASENI Governing Board, said he is aware that the agency is in collaboration with private sector players in the commercialisation of its products, noting that the Presidential CNG Initiative (PCNGi), which NASENI has keyed into is the way to tap into Nigeria’s abundant gas resources and to also attain cleaner energy.
Furthermore, he said the use of CNG-powered transportation would reduce pressure on foreign exchange, save money for vehicle owners by converting fuel-emitting vehicles to CNG. He equally lauded the agency for working with private sector collaborators in the effort to establish lithium ore processing plant in the country to produce lithium battery for electric vehicles.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NASENI, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, said the NASENI-Portland CNG Conversion and Training Centre, a partnership between NASENI and Portland Gas Limited, is a state-of-the-art facility for the conversion of fossil fuel vehicles to CNG, a cleaner and more cost-effective alternative.
He said this facility could convert 15 cars every two hours, translating into an output of 2,700 conversions every month.
He urged the President to give NASENI approval to convert all the vehicles in the State House fleet to CNG.
Equally, to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Halilu said NASENI is willing to make available to its contractors NASENI’S CNG generators, for the purpose of test-running the lighting project on Bill Clinton Drive (the highway leading to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport) to encourage them purchase the Agency’s streetlights for the project.
The NASENI-Portland CNG Conversion and Training Centre equipped with the latest technology and staffed with trained professionals to ensure efficient and safe conversions, is aimed at building local capacity and domestication of CNG technology.
