-By Saidu Abubakar
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva has revealed that the federal government is working towards providing an alternative petrol for Nigerians to cost between N95 and N97 per litre.
He made the disclosure in Abuja on Thursday during a maiden press conference in his office.
According to the Minister, the alternative measure would be through the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), adding that the measure is in tandem with the administration’s ‘Next Level’ mantra.
The CNG, the Minister said, had successfully undergone a sort of pilot project in Benin City with about 10,000 vehicles, pointing out that cost of fuel, with the project, would reduce to about N95 per litre.
CNG can be used in place of gasoline, diesel fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Speaking on the lingering Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Chief Sylva expressed hope that the bill would be passed by the legislature before May this year. He urged for the cooperation of the entirety of Nigerians towards the passage of the bill.
“CNG unit for unit costs less than even the subsidised PMS per litre. The subsidised rate is N145 per litre. CNG will cost N95 to N97 per litre that is why I could say we want to reduce the cost of fuel, that way when we give alternative Nigerians will not notice when the subsidy on PMS is removed.”
He gave an example of NITEL that with the emergence of GSM as an alternative to Nigeians, the usual protest that characterised FG’s attempts to privatise the communication outfit seized, “I, for one, didn’t notice when it was eventually privatised”.