About 800 Abuja airport taxis are to be converted from petrol engines to Compressed Natural Gas engines soon.
This is courtesy of the agreement signed between the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative and the Airport Taxi Operators at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The Programme Director/Chief Executive, P-CNGI, Mr Michael Oluwagbemi, stated this at the agreement signing on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said there would be a 30 per cent discount on airport shuttle fares once the agreement is implemented.
According to Oluwagbemi, who was represented by the initiative’s Programme Execution Coordinator, Mr Folarin Oworo, the conversion partially fulfilled President Bola Tinubu’s promise to convert one million commercial vehicles.
“The airport taxi operators have about 800 fleet of vehicles and we have agreed that once we hit 50 per cent conversion, which is about 400 vehicles, a 30 per cent discount will be implemented immediately.
“There are various prices based on the distance one is travelling, so, the 30 per cent will be applied accordingly, based on the current prices for the area one is going.
“A red card with prices and discounts will also be available in the vehicle based on the passenger’s destination. And to ensure compliance, there will be regular monitoring for diligent delivery,” he said.
He noted that the P-CNGI has conversion partners with accredited centres to achieve the aim, adding that there were about seven refilling stations in Abuja against one being used when the programme commenced a year ago.
He affirmed that more stations are coming up as the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority which is responsible for licensing new stations has many approvals on that development.
An official of the Airport taxi operators, Aliyu Abdulaziz-Aliyu, lauded the P-CNGI for signing the agreement for the Federal Government to initiate the programme.
