FG reopens abandoned filling station as CNG facility, plans staff vehicle conversion

The federal government has reopened an abandoned petrol filling station in Abuja as a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) refuelling facility, while announcing plans to extend vehicle conversion to interested State House personnel.

The Permanent Secretary, State House, Temitope Fashedemi, disclosed this during the inauguration of the facility in Karu, Abuja, saying the initiative was part of efforts to promote cheaper alternative energy and encourage private-sector investment in the country’s gas infrastructure.

Fashedemi said the project was executed through a partnership between the State House, the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (Pi-CNG & EV), and Rollin Energy Limited, without any expenditure by the State House on the rehabilitation of the abandoned facility.

He said the Federal Government was making government-owned facilities available to demonstrate the viability of CNG infrastructure and encourage private investors to establish more refuelling stations and vehicle conversion centres across the country.

According to him, the State House has already incorporated CNG technology into part of its vehicle fleet, including about 10 recently acquired JAC vehicles and some shuttle buses operating within the Presidential Villa.

He added that interested State House personnel would be encouraged to convert eligible personal vehicles to CNG-hybrid systems in the coming weeks.

“We are demonstrating that we are walking the talk of Mr President. In the next few weeks, a number of our staff will be bringing their vehicles here for conversion, subject to the eligibility of the vehicles,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary, however, noted that not all vehicles were suitable for conversion, adding that technical assessments would be conducted to determine those that met the required specifications.