The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, says the Federal Government will from October begin converting the cars and generators of Nigerians to run on gas.
Sylva said this will be done free of charge for all Nigerians to cushion the effect of the hike in pump price of petrol.
The minister said this on NTA’s ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ on Monday which was monitored by Punch.
According to him, cars are capable of running on both gas and petrol.
The minister said the move would reduce carbon emissions as well as the demand for Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as petrol.
Sylva stated, “The alternative we are now introducing is gas, which is definitely going to be cheaper than the subsidised rate of PMS. So, what we are trying to encourage Nigerians to do now is to convert their cars to dual fuel.
That means your car can use either gas or petrol and that will be done for free because the government is going to ensure that you are able to convert your vehicles for free.
“And when you convert your car for free, you go to the filling station, you see the price of PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) you see the price of gas, you can decide to buy LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) or CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), you can decide to buy LNG (Liquefied Natural gas). These are all going to be available and we are going to have a roll out plan for this within October.
“Nigerians will have alternatives. It is like introducing a toll on the roads. When you introduce a tollgate, you are expected and required by law to also create an alternative. So, we are also creating that alternative so that you can go to buy gas.”
Sylva said the Federal Government launched a similar pilot scheme with commercial tricycles in Port Harcourt which they converted to gas and it was successful.