Autogas at a petrol station: conversion may not be free as promised by NNPC GMD

Justice Derefaka, technical adviser on gas business to minister of state for petroleum has contradicted the NNPC GMD, Mele Kyari on the cost of converting petrol cars to gas.

Kyari said at the launch of the Presidential Rollout of the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) on Tuesday that one million cars will benefit from a free conversion from petrol to autogas.

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But on a Channels TV Programme on Wednesday, Derefaka said the conversion is not free.

He said vehicle owners will pay between N200,000 to N250,000 to convert their cars to autogas.

Dispensing autogas into a vehicle

He explained that vehicle owners will have different payment plans to covert their cars to autogas.

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“The cost varies,” Derefaka said during the interview.

Justice Derefaka: said autogas conversion has a cost

“So, in terms of cost implication, it depends on the cylinder of the vehicle. For a typical SUV cylinder, it is a bit higher.

“But on the average, it is around N200,000 to N250,000 and this is for a four-cylinder vehicle.

“It becomes a little bit higher for a six-cylinder SUV vehicle.”

Derefaka further explained that there will be different payment plans for car owners who want to convert their cars, reiterating that the conversion is not totally free.

“The owner of the car basically will decide to say I want to run on autogas or CNG or LNG.

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“Like the honourable minister had mentioned it as well, conversion basically, has different strands.

“You can partner with your bank and then the bank will now agree with the conversion centre to say ‘Convert this our customer’s car for free.’

“Not free in its entirety,” he emphasised.

“But then you now go and covert your vehicle. What happens is that the installer will put some form of mechanism that each time you buy the gas; a certain amount will be deducted to pay for the conversion kits.”

While he dismissed fears that many Nigerians will see the conversion fee as expensive, the aide noted that payment can be done within five to seven months.

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“And that in its self has saved you the use of gas in lieu of petrol to about 45-50 per cent,” the Marine Engineering graduate from the Rivers State University (RSU), Port Harcourt added.

“So, there is a huge cost-saving in that regard.”