A CNG-fueled vehicle

By Maduabuchi Nmeribeh/Kano

The Development and Safety Professional Association( DSPA) has accused the Rolling Energy company of technically sabotaging the availability and distribution of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in northern Nigeria.

The Association raised the alarm in Kano, insisting that the Rolling Energy company, dominated by Indian Nationals, is systematically making the Federal Government’s CNG project practically unworkable in northern Nigeria.

The Regional Coordinator of the group, Engr. Bukar Hashimu-Goni alerted the Federal Government that there is what he described as  “foul play on non-effectiveness and non-availability of CNG operation in major parts of the North. It is a move aimed at discrediting the good intentions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

Engr. Hashimu-Goni said: “The CNG initiative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been a noble and commendable policy which seeks to, among other things, alleviate the pressure of subsidy removal on the masses, but this effort is rather being subverted by those who should amplify it.

“We have watched how other private firms, engaged by the Federal Government, are professionally handling the project in other parts of the country; the same cannot be said about Rolling Energy, which is saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the success of the CNG in northern Nigeria.*

According to him, “as a professional association, since the takeoff of the CNG initiative, we had patiently tracked, monitored and assessed all private firms engaged by the Federal Government. The  Rolling Energy seems to be the least qualified and ill-prepared for such a massive project.

” Their presence is not visible across Maiduguri and other parts of the region. For instance, all three sites in Maiduguri are not completed and have no realistic timeframe for their takeoff.”

Also speaking,  the Association’s Technical Director, Architect Mansur Walid, said: “We unequivocally appeal to the president, the NSA, and other security agencies to beam their searchlight on the activities of Rolling Energy, whose majority management is Indian.

“We suspect foul play and deliberate sabotage both in terms of the CNG initiative and even broader national security.

“The fact that other firms are doing well in some parts of the country, especially southern Nigeria, why then is Rolling Energy unable to effectively take off in northern Nigeria? That speaks volumes!

“It doesn’t need any rocket science to know there is foul play aimed at discrediting the good intentions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

Malid added that, “in Kano, the most populous city and commercial nerve centre, which is crucial to northern Nigeria’s development, Rolling Energy has no presence.

“In  Kaduna, the story is the same. The much-touted facility, in Kwara, is such a small site with insignificant input compared to the size and magnitude of CNG demand.”