As part of efforts to reduce heavy reliance on petrol, the Ogun State Government has announced a plan to convert mass transit buses of the state from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) fuel, also known as petrol, to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

The south western state disclosed on Wednesday that its plans are already ongoing to fast-track the process as a four-man technical team arrived in the state to pave the way for the initiative.

Tokunbo Talabi, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr Talabi stated that the scheme would provide relief to the people of the state from the difficulty caused by the termination of  subsidy on petrol.

He stressed that the mass transit buses in Ogun state will begin running on CNG in the coming days, in keeping with Governor Dapo Abiodun’s administration’s pledge that the project would begin in the first week of August.

“The CNG team is on the ground. I was part of the team that received the CNG kits on behalf of the government early in the year, and I visited the project site this morning (Tuesday). His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun, is a man of his word, and such a highly progressive Governor deserves all necessary support for Ogun State to continue progressing.

“The aim is to improve and modernise bus operations in Ogun State by converting buses to Compressed Natural Gas by equipping them with the latest technology to improve environmental and operational performance.

“Moreover, the newly fitted buses are expected to improve public transportation reliability, safety and efficiency and reduce polluting air emissions. The pilot project will commence with converting twenty buses from diesel to CNG and exploring the performance before rolling out the programme.”

Premium Times