Ogun: Conversion of buses, motorcycles, tricycles to gas, electricity begins August

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has disclosed that the e-mobility and gas mobility programme of the state will take off in the first week of August. 

The governor made the disclosure while receiving participants of the Senior Executive Course 45, Group 1, of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, who came on a courtesy call to his office at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, on Monday.

According to the governor, the e-mobility and gas mobility involves the conversion of mass transit buses from petroleum to gas and motorcycles and tricycles to electric.

He said that his administration would, in its second term, focus on the provision of public utilities, which include water and electricity supply.

The governor said the topic of the visit, “Industrialization, Climate change and Energy Security in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects,” aligned with his administration’s transition objectives.

He said: “I am proud to say that in Ogun State, we have put in measures and plans to begin an energy transition plan and we are going to start converting all our state buses to begin to run on CNG; that programme has already commenced and we are actually going to launch what we call our our e-mobility and gas mobility programme sometime around the end of this month or first week in August.

“The gas mobility is that which we convert not just our buses to operate on gas, but all mass transit will begin to operate on gas and our e-mobility is a programme that will make for all our motorcycles and tricycles to run on electricity. They will be battery-powered. We are going to launch that programme either last week of this month or first week of next month.

“We will take the motorcycles from the riders and give them electric powered motorcycles. This programme will have a cushion effect on what our masses are currently experiencing and besides that, it will begin a new phase of dispensation of clean energy which speaks to the issue of climate change.”

The governor also said that Ogun State is planning to generate its own electricity, following the signing of the 2023 Electricity Bill into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on June 9, which empowers states, companies and individuals to generate, transmit and distribute power.

Abiodun added that his administration would take advantage of the newly signed electricity bill by establishing a company that would generate and distribute power in the state.

“We are going to take advantage of the constitutional amendment that has now removed power generation from the exclusive list and put it on the concurrent list.

“We will have our own generation company, state distribution company, and ensure that we can provide more power to our major towns and cities. Once we are able to do that, the grid can be sufficient for our small towns,” he said.

Earlier, the team leader and the Director of Studies, Prof. (Mrs.) Oluwafunmilayo Para-Mallam, said the participants are embarking on the study as mandated by the president to research on topical issues of national importance, adding that Ogun State was selected as the result of it being the industrial capital of the country.

She said many indigenes of the State have passed through the institute and are making their marks in both national and international arena.

Para-Mallam added that the institute did not make a mistake by choosing the state as part of its tour of study, acknowledging the achievements made by the present administration in all sectors of the economy.

The Senior Executive Course 45, Group 1, of the institute is on a one-week study tour of the state.