Ogun State eyes conversion of petrol-fuelled buses to gas August

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, on Monday, said his administration would commence the conversion of mass transit buses from petroleum fuel to gas and motorcycles to electric in August.

Abiodun said the conversion programme is scheduled to take off in the first week of August.

The governor also said that his administration would take advantage of the newly signed electricity bill that regulates the power sector by establishing a company that would generate and distribute power supply in the Gateway state.

Abiodun said this when he received participants of the Senior Executive Course 45, Group 1, of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, who were on a courtesy call in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

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

He said, “We are actually going to launch what we call our E-mobility and Gas Mobility Programme sometime around the end of this month or the 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 program either the last week of this month or the first week of next month.

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

The governor also said that the 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.

“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, and 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.”

The governor also disclosed that his government has spent so much on the rehabilitation of water works across the state in its efforts at ensuring the availability of potable water to the populace.

He added, “On the issue of water, we have spent a lot of money on our water works. It will interest you to know that our water works from Ogun River, is what Lagos State depends on.

“We’ve invested a lot of money in our waterworks. What we need to do now is to be creative about reticulation and also provide water in all our major towns and cities.

“Those will be one of our focal areas so that we can ensure that we have sustainable towns and cities where we have electricity and water supply,” he said.

Speaking 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 topical issues of national importance.

She said that Ogun State was selected as a 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 the national and international arenas.

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