The federal government has unveiled a two-pronged Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) intervention to reduce transport costs for university students, lecturers and other workers across the country.

Under the scheme, the government will subsidise the conversion of vehicles owned by lecturers and other university workers to CNG, while deploying 100 CNG-powered buses to 20 public universities, with students paying a fixed fare of N150 per trip.

The Initiative, known as Project SPROUT, is being implemented through the Presidential Initiative on CNG Electric Vehicles (PCNGI-EV), in partnership with FEMADEC Group and the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF).

Chief Operating Officer of the PCNGI-EV, Mr Tosin Coker, disclosed this on Thursday at the scheme’s launch at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Akoka, Lagos.

Coker said the intervention was part of the Federal Government’s efforts to fulfil its commitment to reducing transport costs following the 2024 agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

He noted that the government recognised the burden of transport on households and university communities, adding that the CNG intervention aimed to provide a cheaper alternative.

“About two years ago, when the Federal Government, through the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, brokered a peace deal with the leaders of ASUU, one of the promises made was to reduce transport cost and we are continuing in the fulfilment of the promise,” he said.

Coker said lecturers, non-teaching staff, and other eligible vehicle owners would be able to access designated CNG conversion centres, with the government subsidising the cost.

“The payment will also be made friendly and easy,” he added.

The intervention will operate on two tracks: converting existing vehicles to CNG and deploying new CNG-powered buses to participating universities.

Under the conversion component, vehicle owners can pay for conversion through an amortised arrangement, while the new-bus component will be funded 50/50 by the PCNGI-EV and participating universities.

The universities will contribute to the new-bus component through a student Green Transit Levy, while FEMADEC Express will provide and operate the CNG daughter stations, conversion workshops and bus fleets.

FEMADEC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Fola Akinnola, said the scheme was designed to provide affordable and sustainable transport for university communities using Nigeria’s domestic gas resources.

He said students under the programme would pay N150 per trip, regardless of changes in fuel prices outside the university environment.

CNG would also be supplied to participating campus fleets at a fixed rate of N500 per Gasoline Gallon Equivalent (GGE) for the duration of each lease, he said.

Akinnola said the model had already been implemented at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), the University of Abuja and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, with UNILAG joining the rollout.

“UNILAG is not just a pilot — it is proof that this model travels. The same dual-track structure now running at FUTO, Abuja and Ife is live here today, and it will look identical at every one of the twenty campuses we still have to reach,” he said.

The first phase of the nationwide rollout covers 12 federal universities, with the programme expected to eventually reach 20 universities.

The rollout will continue in Kano on Monday, October 5, before extending to other participating institutions.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Muyiwa Falaiye, who represented the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, hailed the initiative.

Falaiye said CNG conversion would reduce transport costs for university workers, particularly lecturers and other staff who rely on personal vehicles for commuting.

He urged the Federal Government to sustain and expand the programme to cover more members of university communities.

Under the arrangement, PCNGI-EV will receive repayments on conversion kits, allowing the funds to be recycled into other participating campuses, while MDGIF will co-finance the CNG infrastructure required to support gas supply.

The scheme Is expected to provide students with fixed-fare campus transport while giving lecturers and other university workers access to subsidised CNG vehicle conversion, thereby addressing transport costs on both sides of the university community. (The Nation)