President Bola Tinubu has directed Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the country to patronize technologies and products of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure to support made-in-Nigeria goods and reduce importation.
The President, represented by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio made the declaration while commissioning NASENI-Portland Compressed Natural Gas Conversion, Filling, Reverse Engineering and Training Centre in Utako Abuja on Friday.
President Tinubu who doubles as Chairman of the NASENI Governing Board, said he is aware that the Agency is in collaboration with private sector players in the commercialization of its products, noting that the Presidential CNG Initiative, which NASENI has keyed into the way to tap into Nigeria’s abundant gas resources and to also attain cleaner energy.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NASENI, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, said the facility can convert 15 cars every two hours, translating into an output of 2,700 conversions every month.
“Mr. President, by our calculations, if Nigeria is able to have 10 of this kind of facility in each of the 36 States and the FCT, we will be able to convert every vehicle in the country to CNG within one year,” he said.
He urged the President to give NASENI approval to convert all the vehicles in the State House fleet to CNG.
“We are asking for your approval to do this and showcase our capabilities. Second, we are offering to carry out CNG conversions for every Ministry, Department and Agency of the Federal Government at a cost,” Halilu said.
Addressing the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Halilu said NASENI is willing to make available to its contractors NASENI’S CNG generators, for the purpose of test-running the lighting project on Bill Clinton Drive (the highway leading to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport) to encourage them to purchase the Agency’s streetlights for the project.
