Ajaokuta Equipped For CNG Conversion — Steel Minister

The minister of steel development, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, has revealed that the Ajaokuta Industrial Park was ready to host a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) conversion plant.

Prince Audu, who disclosed this Thursday in
Abuja while receiving programme director/CEO, Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGi), Engr. Michael Oluwagbemi, said a cardinal objective of President Bola Tinubu-led government is the CNG Initiative, which will cut down transportation cost by 40 per cent, following the removal of petrol subsidy.

The minister stated that the proposed Industrial Park in Ajaokuta was underway to drive the CNG initiative of President Tinubu.

Audu said: “Mr. President has given a mandate that he wants a minimum of one million CNG vehicles on the road by 2027. So, there is a lot of work that needs to be done, and everything that we need to partner with the Federal Government under the CNG initiative are available in Ajaokuta.

“One of the things we are also doing is the industrial park in Ajaokuta, where various categories of companies will be under the industrial park within Ajaokuta. So, the CNG park will be one of the many components of the soon-to-be Ajaokuta Industrial Park.

“Everything to actualise the CNG initiative and conversions are available in Ajaokuta, and so plugging in the CNG initiative is very viable; there is gas there, an engineering workshop is there, and a tools workshop to facilitate the construction or assembly of the kits is also there.

“Mr. President is indeed very excited about this initiative and the partnership between the Ministry and the P-CNGI, which drives the plans of industrialising Nigeria, diversifying and growing the economy, and creating jobs under the renewed initiatives.”

He commended Engr. Olugbemi for his effort towards actualising the CNG initiative.

On her part, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu, lauded the partnership between the Ministry and P-CNGI.

For his part, the P-CNGi CEO, Mr. Olugbemi, declared that the Steel Industry is an absolute necessity for the actualisation of the CNG initiative, adding that steel components are at the very heart of the project.

Olugbemi said that establishing the CNG park in Ajoakuta will be an evolution from importing some of the components to manufacturing them. This will address some of the challenges with transporting the CNG components into the country, he said.

“The journey with the Ministry of Steel Development was critical from day one, and Ajaokuta is a hub with access to raw materials. We have hit the ground running already and are optimistic about excellent collaborations with the Ministry,” Olugbemi said.

In his remarks, the Sole Administrator, Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, Engr. Sumaila Abdul-Akaba, said that the project was a welcome development to Ajaokuta, especially in the revival phase of the company.

He assured P-CNGI of the cooperation of the steel company in bringing to fruition the realszation of the CNG project.