President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday directed the release of mass transit buses to ease the transportation challenges Nigerians are facing.
The president also thanked Nigerians for what he called their patience as the nation continues to witness economic and other challenges.
He also thanked members of the organised labour for their “maturity and patriotism.”
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President spoke at the virtual unveiling of the National Gas Expansion Programme and National Autogas Roll-out Initiative at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The statement was titled “Economy: President Buhari appreciates Nigerians for patience, urges more use of gas as an alternative to petrol.”
Adesina quoted the President as saying “Let me now express my deep appreciation to Nigerians for their patience, and organised labour for its maturity and patriotism as we collectively navigate these global economic and other challenges.’’
Buhari urged Nigerians to embrace the use of gas as an alternative to fuel.
He noted that the natural gas resources, which Nigeria is endowed with have hitherto been used sub-optimally as a result of a dearth of gas processing facilities and infrastructural connectivity for effective and optimal domestic utilisation.
He said with a proven reserve of about 203 Trillion Cubic Feet and the additional upside of 600 TCF ranking Nigeria as the 9th in the world currently, there was the l need for domestic gas expansion and utilisation.
He also said the deregulation of the downstream sector had exposed many to price volatilities in the global market.