…Governor Abdullahi A. Sule lauds Greenville LNG for constructing its Gas Hub station as scheduled, and for setting the pace for cost-cutting CNG and LNG Delivery in Nasarawa State

It was with a great sense of accomplishment that Greenville LNG Co Ltd, inaugurated its Lafia L-CNG station to offer energy cost-reducing LNG and CNG fuelling options to the public. The Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, His Excellency Engr.  Abdullahi A. Sule, was the Special Guest of Honor who in person commissioned the completed project in shabu, Lafia on Tuesday 20, 2024.

In his address to the gathering at the Gas Station inauguration in Lafia, Governor Abdullahi A. Sule spoke of the Nasarawa Gas Masterplan and lauded Greenville LNG for successfully completing the project within its promised and planned 1-year schedule. The Governor also commended and thanked the company for taking the lead in the visionary Nasarawa gas utilization agenda, urging the company to further spread its business operations beyond the state capital to across the state.

Governor Abdullahi Sule informed the audience in Lafia that in furtherance of the gasification policy of the Nasarawa State Government in order to reduce and sustainably manage energy costs in the State, his administration, as an initial investment, is sponsoring 50 youths to be trained as technicians for conversion of automotive vehicles to CNG-powered engines. He further called on local investors within Nasarawa State to align with Greenville LNG and invest in related businesses and projects across the length and breath of the State.

The Governor who did a quantification analysis between the volume of currently documented crude oil reserves and gas reserves in the country, said that with the gas reserves in Nigeria conservatively estimated at 220 trillion cubic litres, Nigeria is more of a Gas State than a Crude Oil State. Governor Sule also spoke of the great potentials of Nasarawa State as an oil and Gas State, and highlighted his dream of Nasarawa gas fields becoming gas farms which he envisions will eventually feed the gas requirements of companies such as Greenville LNG in the State in the near future.

Alhaji Zubairu Ibrahim Bayi, the Director, Inter-governmental Relations of Greenville LNG Company Limited, represented and delivered the goodwill message of the company’s Chairman Mr. Eddy Van den Broeke who, for reasons beyond his control, was unavoidably absent at the ceremony in Lafia. Alhaji Bayi, on behalf of the Chairman, Board of Directors and staff of Greenville LNG expressed sincere congratulations to the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule in particular, and to the State Government and people of Nasarawa State in general on the epoch-making commissioning of the L-CNG hub station in Lafia, the first of its kind in the State, and under the Governor’s very focused, innovative productive and developmentalist leadership. “The conceptualisation, construction, completion and subsequent commissioning of this project is a clear testimony of Your Excellency’s unwavering resolve to provide and improve lasting developmental infrastructure which positively impact citizens’ lives across the length and breadth of this State and indeed the country in general,” said Bayi to the Governor. Bayi recalled that the history of the Greenville’s LNG-CNG Station Project in Lafia, dates back to when the Governor graciously granted Greenville LNG ample land to construct the Hub Station with a record approval time that clearly exemplified the helpful leadership trajectory of Governor Abdullahi A. Sule. Bayi said “…it is with worthy pride that we announce to the general public today that within our well-meant commitment to the Nasarawa State Government and the public, Greenville LNG has kept faith and delivered the first LNG-CNG Station in the State within the promised and planned period of one year.” Alhaji Bayi further informed the gathering that the Greenville LNG Lafia Gas station, at full operation, will be providing CNG dispensing capacity of 32 Tons per Day; and 220 Tons of LNG per day. He explained the multi-dimensional benefits and advantages to include cost-effective energy solutions, promotion of sustainable business that fosters economic growth and planned development, and creation of desirable green climate, the latter of which “…will stand out Nasarawa State as one of the leaders in green energy compliance in the country, positioning the State in a prime position for access to funding reserved for green-compliant entities.”

Pertaining to its local job creation potential and promotion of local businesses, Bayi said the establishment of the Greenville LNG and CNG Hub Station and its expected and related Daughter stations development across Nasarawa State, will positively generate considerable employment opportunities across various sectors such as transportation, industrial concerns, small and medium enterprises; practically contributing to reduction of unemployment across the State. Bayi also highlighted that the use of CNG and LNG in Nasarawa State will create a beneficial energy diversification and security for the State’s industrialisation agenda, including development of commercially prudent independent power plants, reducing its reliance on traditional fuels while creating a more resilient and sustainable energy landscape. “Your Excellency, this initiative of Greenville LNG in Nasarawa State is in synch with the strategy of the Government of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidential Initiative on CNG (Pi-CNG) to provide clean, safer, and more affordable gas as a source of fuel for every corner of the country….With the Greenville L-CNG Station now fully operational in Lafia, residents, transportation companies and industries in the State in particular and, the Middle Belt region in general can now fully harness full energy cost-cutting benefits of the Presidential Initiative on Gas,” he said. Bayi expressed Greenville’s profound thanks and appreciation to the Nasarawa State Government and to all its agencies and particularly to His Excellency, Governor Abdullahi A. Sule for all the support received by the company for the actualization of the project. He thanked the Governor and distinguished guests for sparing clearly valuable time to be present with Greenville LNG at the ceremony in Lafia, adding “Greenville LNG is indeed grateful. On behalf of our Chairman, Board of Directors and entire staff, I sincerely thank everyone for coming and wish all of you a safe return journey back to your various destinations.”

Besides the Governor of Nasarawa State, other important VIPs and dignitaries at the ceremony in Lafia included  the Director of Gas at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Oluremi Komolafe who represented the Hon. Min. of Petroleum Resources (Gas), Members of Nasarawa State Exco, Principal Officers and Honourable members of Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Chairman of the Nasarawa State Traditional Council and Emir of Lafia, HRH Justice Sidi Bage, Sangari Shabu HRH Alhaji Mahmud Baula, Sangari Kwandere HRH Ahmadu Almakura, Mr Jide Awolowo who represented the Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Gas, the Managing Director of Nasarawa State Investment and Development Agency (NASIDA), Barrister Abdullahi Ibrahim and other senior officials of NASIDA, the Managing Director of the Gas Aggregation Council of Nigeria (GACN) Chijioke Uzoho, representatives of NMDPRA’s Executive Directors of Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF), Economic Regulations and Strategic Planning, HPPITI, and DSSRI. NMDPRA’s Nasarawa State Coordinator in Lafia Engr. Obiora and NMDPRA Project representative, Lafia Office, Engr. Umar also attended. Senior bank and corporate executives also attended the event.  The Greenville LNG delegation was led by the company’s director of Inter-governmental Relations, Alhaji Zubairu Ibrahim Bayi. Mr Jospeh Oyadoyin, a director of Greenville LNG, General Counsel Barrister (Mrs) Ngozi Efobi, Group Head of Security Alhaji Yusuf Zaiyana, Head of Commercial Amit Singh, General Manager, LNG Retailing, Gokul Moothedathu, Nargiza Khudoydotova of Gradient Bitumen, Branding and Marketing Manager Ravi Sherma,  amongst others were also in Lafia for the event.

Greenville LNG is Nigeria’s private sector’s leading producer and distributor of LNG and CNG for the domestic market. With the company’s efficient virtual pipeline consisting of more than 700 specialized LNG-powered gas delivery trucks capable of driving about 1,200 kilometres and 1,800 kilometres without the need to refuel. Grenville LNG from its Rumuji Gas Plant in Rivers State and from its active Gas hubs, delivers sustainable and more affordable LNG and CNG energy supplies to every part of Nigeria. With Gas Hub stations in Rumuji, Benin, Shagamu, Koton-Karfe, Kaduna and now Lafia, Greenville is working progressively to open 25 Hubs to enable the delivery of cleaner, more cost-efficient and more readily available LNG and CNG fuels for homes, the automotive industry and other industrial concerns, and for independent power plants outside the national power grid across the geo-spatial and economic spectrum of country. It would be recalled that Greenville LNG, in a double historic energy transition novelty, successfully fuelled for the first time Nigerian Railway Corporation Locomotive engines with Liquefied Natural Gas at the Idu Abuja Railway Station to ply the Abuja-Kaduna railway line recently, and at about the same time in Lagos, Greenville also pioneered the fuelling with LNG Ekeson Transport’s  buses at the terminal of the Ekeson transport company.