The Independent Petroleum Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has endorsed using compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative energy source to cushion the effect of subsidy removal.

IPMAN national president, Chinedu Okorokwo, said this in an interview in Abuja on Wednesday.

President Bola Tinubu had on May 29, in his inaugural speech, said petrol subsidy “is gone.”

Amid the threat of a nationwide strike, Mr Tinubu’s government began negotiations with the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, with the parties agreeing on the adoption of CNG as an alternative fuel which it said would bring a better and long-lasting solution to the constant fluctuation in the price of petrol in the global market.

The meeting also agreed to revive the CNG conversion programme earlier agreed upon with labour centres in 2021 and work out detailed implementation and timing.

CNG, a gas mainly composed of methane and produces less emission, is the cleanest burning fuel operating today with less vehicle maintenance and longer engine life.

Mr Okoronkwo stated, “We have also discovered that bringing an alternative that is cheaper than even firewood which is CNG, will not only create relief for the government and its citizens, but it is environmentally friendly.”

He added, “The CNG is abundantly available in Nigeria than anywhere in Africa. In the Niger Delta region, you see billions of tonnes of gas flare being wasted daily, these are huge amounts that should be accruing to our GDP, but we are wasting it because there is no market for it.”

According to the IPMAN president, CNG is the energy for transmission and the way to go, adding that Nigeria should emulate something that is working.

“There’s a franchise for the bottling of CNG so that an average woman in the kitchen can use it,” he said.

Mr Okoronkwo said introducing CNG would cushion the current high fuel price as a litre of CNG would not cost more than N130 and could be less, advising that repairing the local refineries would reduce the impact of the removal as it would eliminate the cost of importation and exportation.

According to him, if the government should facilitate using CNG, afforestation will be stopped, promoting a cleaner environment. 

(NAN)