NADDC To Commence Accreditation Of CNG Conversion Workshops

To ensure safety and standard, the National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, is set to commence the accreditation and certification of Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, Conversion Workshops in Nigeria.

The Director General of NADDC, Mr Oluwemimo Osanipin stated this at a Stakeholders Engagement in Abuja.

Mr Osanipin who was represented by the Director, Research, Design and Development in NADDC, Dr Fidelis Achiv said the Stakeholders Engagement was to sensitize Converters on the rules and regulations guiding the CNG conversion.

“You are all aware that the National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, as the regulatory agency for the automotive industry is promoting and creating an enabling environment for the use of Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, as an alternative and cheaper transportation fuel and last year, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu launched the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNG-i) as a successor to the National Gas Expansion Programme ,NGEP,” He stated

According to him, among the objectives of the initiative is the utilisation of CNG to be an alternative transportation fuel to cushion the impact of fuel subsidy removal and this initiative is techno-economically beneficial because Nigeria is naturally blessed with abundance of natural gas deposit and is ranked first (1st) in Africa as the country with over 200 trillion cubic feet natural gas reserves.

“Therefore, Nigeria must leverage on these natural gas resources, and transform it to an energy that will drive the automotive wheels of Nigeria and over the last few years, the Council organised a sensitization and awareness campaign on the safety and benefits of using AutoGas (CNG) as an alternative fuel to petrol and diesel” the Director General explained.

Mr Osanipin who emphasized that the campaign which recorded success has enlightened and encouraged Nigerians to patronize CNG conversion centres, which subsequently pave way for many petrol vehicles to be converted to CNG noted that nowadays, after the removal of fuel subsidy, government agencies, businesses, logistics companies and private vehicle owners have converted their vehicles to CNG.

“According to Autogas Africa, there are over 120 CNG conversion centres with 466 skilled technicians operating across the country, these workshops has a capacity to convert a minimum of 2 (two) petrol vehicles to CNG per day. This indicates that CNG conversion is increasingly gaining acceptance and the market is expanding in the country and these CNG conversion centres are unregulated which raises safety concerns on the standards and code of practice used in the conversion” He added

In a remark, the Programme Coordinator, Regulatory, Compliance and Facilitator, Presidential CNG Initiative, Mr Zayyanu Tambari Yabo said by 2027, about one million CNG vehicles would be produced while over three billion naira investment would be realized in the sector.

Mr Yabo therefore solicited the support of all stakeholders towards ensuring the success of the Presidential CNG Initiative.

Also speaking, Mr Dauda Suleiman from the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology, NITT, Zaria, Kaduna State promised the Institute support towards realizing the objectives of the CNG Conversion Initiative.

Other speakers at the Stakeholders Engagement including the online participants commended NADDC for taking steps to accredit and certify the CNG Conversion Workshops towards ensuring safety and standard in the sector.

Mathew Ayoola, Edited By Grace Namiji