Speaking during the inauguration of the CNG buses on Monday, Tinubu emphasised the urgent need for Nigeria to utilise its vast natural gas resources in the transportation sector.

The President stated that CNG transportation is an economic necessity for Nigeria, signalling a significant shift in the country’s approach to public transportation and energy use.

“Utilising natural gas to power Nigeria’s transportation industry is the next way to go,” he stated.

Tinubu also highlighted CNG as a solution to the recent challenges of high transportation costs faced by many Nigerians.

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelelae, the President drew attention to international precedents, noting that countries like India have mandated CNG for all commercial vehicles since 2004.

Tinubu pointed out that in Nigeria, commercial vehicles account for about 80% of the country’s petrol demand, costing trillions of naira each month.

“The solution is here, we have it, and we will work on it,” Tinubu assured, promising that this shift would lead to better conditions and increased prosperity for Nigerians.

He stressed that leveraging Nigeria’s abundant gas deposits could enhance the nation’s energy competitiveness and bring about transformative changes.

The hybrid CNG buses were designed and manufactured by Innoson Motors, a Nigerian automobile company based in Anambra State.

Each bus can transport up to 100 people and has the flexibility to run on diesel if needed, addressing potential CNG shortage concerns.

DAPPMAN Chairman, Winifred Akpani, revealed that the association has made provisions to train drivers and hinted at more donations in subsequent phases, underlining the private sector’s commitment to the CNG initiative.

Tinubu lauded this development as a promising and progressive lift to the Nigerian transportation system.

He also commended Innoson Motors and other DAPPMAN members for their commitment to “changing the narratives in Nigeria.”

In a statement issued by the coalition’s spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, the group urged the Nigerian government to immediately expose sponsors of groups clamouring for self-determination in the Southern part of the country. The group suggested that one of the charges that should be filed against Igboho should be ”incitement to violence against northerners”

The statement in part reads “From the outset, we wish to be categoric that the arrest of Igboho and Kanu should not be mistaken as bringing about the end to the uprisings and disturbances over self-determination perpetrated by southern Nigerian elites and governments who use thugs like Igboho and Kanu. We insist that rather than seeing the arrest as an end in itself, it should be the beginning of the processes for self-determination by any unit that wants to go. Therefore we insist on a peaceful referendum for separation from a people who would at the slightest of pretexts, attack, kill and destroy people of other regions and their properties, especially those from the North. The arrest of Igboho is government business and so long as it conforms with the principle of rule of law and international criminal justice procedures. We are not yet sure what he is going to be charged with, but expectedly incitement to violence against northerners would be one of them. We all know that threats of violent secession anywhere are a grave offence that no government will condone. From records of history, it is only northern Nigeria that has not called for the breakup of the country at the slightest of pretence.  With the arrest of Kanu and now Igboho, we are hoping that government would go beyond prosecution to digging up and exposing their sponsors and the agenda behind them. While Kanu’s case may be attributed to some form of insanity which was exploited by the South East elites who were playing a double game, Igboho is a deliberate and calculated, supported and encouraged attempt by the Yoruba leaders including their governments to scare the North into agreeing to cede power without competition.  Unfortunately, they took it too far by arming Igboho and setting him against law-abiding citizens from other regions particularly the North. The arrest if considered along with that of Kanu should serve as a lesson to those blind followers who are instigated into setting fire to their own backyards whereas the instigators of such lawlessness and violence almost all the time have a fallback option that includes escaping abroad. The two arrests also attest to the level of cross-regional cooperation that is working across Africa”