Victor Ezeja
Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has appointed members of the steering committee for the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas (PICNG).
The committee is to be headed by the Acting Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zaach Adedeji.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAccording to a statement from the State House, the committee’s primary focus would be “to develop strategies aimed at expediting the implementation of the Presidential directives regarding the CNG Initiative.”
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Since the removal subsidies on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, there has been discussions about development infrastructure for the deployment of CNG as a cost-effective alternative source of energy.
Subsidy removal made the price of petrol to jerk up by over 300 per cent within one month, with fears that it might further increase given the rise in prices of crude oil in the international market.
President Tinubu had in his addresses on July 31, 2023, and October 1 independence celebration, reiterated his resolve to actualise the deployment of CNG across the country.
The State House statement explained that members of the committee, “will be working on the development and promotion of natural gas as an alternative fuel source, in line with the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to mitigate the impact of fuel subsidy removal on the people of Nigeria.”
Apart from Adedeji, other notable members of the committee include Mrs. Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser to the President on Energy; Engr. Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA); Dr. Armstrong Takang, Managing Director of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI); and Mr. Olalekan Ogunleye, the Executive Vice President of Gas, Power, and New Energy at NNPC Limited.
Others are Mr. Toyin Subair, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Domestic); and Mrs. Denike Laoye.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
