Dr Oladeji Dikko, the Chairman of Pacesetter Transport Services (PTS), Oyo State owned transport service, on Tuesday, said works were in the pipeline to establish a CNG vehicle conversion centre in Ibadan.
The conversion process entails converting a petrol or diesel engine vehicle to being powered by conpressed natural gas (CNG).
Addressing newsmen in Ibadan, Dikko said that the state government had fully embraced the CNG initiative of the Federal Government.
“Reports show that CNG vehicles initiative is the best to adopt, hence plans are underway to launch a conversion centre in Ibadan the Oyo State capital,” the PTS chairman said.
He said that the establishment of the centre would make it easier for the agency to convert all its diesel/petroleum buses to CNG.
Dilko also said that the centre, when operational, would be opened to private car owners who wish to convert their cars/buses to CNG.
Dikko, who said that the CNG vehicles were safer and cheaper to run and maintain, added that a total of 30 CNG buses received from the Federal Government, had been deployed to inter-state routes.
Speaking on the achievements of the agency, the chairman said that the state government had committed a total of N2.1 billion toward subsidising transport cost across Ibadan intra-city and other inter-city routes such as Ibadan-Iseyin-Saki; Ibadan-Oyo-Ogbomoso, and Ibadan-Ibarapa.
“Since August 2023 when Gov. Seyi Makinde announced the Sustainable Action for Economic Recovery (SAfER), till date, the state government has spent N2,151,000,000 to subsidise transportation for the people.
“Uder the SAfER Transport, an initiative introduced by the governor to mitigate the economic hardship facing residents of the state, students, pensioners, the aged, people living with disabilities and other residents enjoy subsidised transportation in the state-owned Pacesetter buses on different intra-city and inter-city routes.
“Between Aug. 5 and December 2023, the governor invested N541 million in subsidising transport fare by 50 per cent for residents of the state.
“We conveyed between 26,000 and 30,000 people on a daily basis in 2023.
“In 2024, the governor invested N924 million and we conveyed over 9,950,000 people in 2024.
“This year 2025, as we speak, the governor has invested N686 million, and so far from January to date, we have conveyed about 5,880,000 passengers,” he said.
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