“Tell Mr. President,” Operators Cry Out Over Alleged Diversion Of 2,000 Tricycles, Call For Probe

• The national tricycle riders' union has called on President Bola Tinubu to investigate the allocation of the 2,000 tricycles promised to the union since 2022
• They alleged that instead of giving the tricycles to the union as promised, it is now being sold even to non-union members
• The union insisted that they had been treated unfairly, especially now that the director of the initiative claims no promise was made

Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon, a journalist with Legit.ng, has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

The National Commercial Tricycle and Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association has called on the federal government to probe the 2000 CNG tricycle scheme.

According to the union, President Bola Tinubu promised to allocate 2,000 tricycles to the union during the 2022 campaign tours when the union was invited to key locations, including Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna.

The National President of NATOMORAS, Usman Gwoza, said that the promises were made publicly, and there was official documentation and statements from campaign officials confirming this.

Gwoza alleged that the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGi) is now diverting the CNG tricycles and selling them to the union members at N2.5 million.

PCNGi dismisses their claims

Commenting on the issue, the programme director and Chief Executive of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, Engineer Michael Oluwagbemi, insisted that no such promise was made to the union.

He challenged the union president to present written agreements or evidence of any presidential promise to back its claims.

Oluwagbemi asked:

“Where is the written agreement between him and the president? When you say somebody promised you something, wouldn’t you show where the person promised you? The video, at least. Even if the president promised it, let’s assume he did. Which he did not.”

Note that some others, like the Lagos chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), invested N10.2 billion to get 3,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) commercial tricycles for its members.

The government is also launching 175 filling stations before the end of 2025.

Operators insist the President promised 2,000 CNG tricycles

Gwoza noted that even after the elections, the President again delivered a speech on October 1, promising that 2,000 CNG tricycles would be given to the union.

He alleged that the PCNGi Director, Oluwagbemi, was working with private companies to commercialize the tricycles instead of handing them to NATOMORAS as promised.

He said:

“He’s conniving with some other companies, releasing these tricycles for them, and he is giving them out on hire purchase for N2.5million. Then the company collecting from him is giving it out for N3.5m. The thing that they said they should give us for the campaign promise.”

“That’s why we are out to tell Mr President in case he is not aware. The government needs to investigate this because he is giving this tricycle out for N2.5m. When did the president ask to give it out on N2.5 m? I have seen the people who collected 100 pieces on N2.5 m each. And those people that are being given are not even members of the NATOMORAS.”

Gwoza also added that other unions, such as NARTO and RTEAN, had received CNG buses, while the PCNGi was mistreating NATOMORAS.

He described this treatment as unfair, referencing the formal role NATOMORAS played during the campaigns and how their contributions were acknowledged by the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).

FG launches portal to distribute 2000 CNG-tricycles

In related news, the federal government has announced the launch of a portal for the distribution of 2000 compressed natural gas (CNG) powered tricycles.

The Minister of State for Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, said Nigerian youths could access the portal and apply for youth empowerment initiatives through clean energy across the country.

Legit.ng reported that two websites were set up for the purpose — www.youthcng.ng and www.bci.gov.ng/tricycles

Source: Legit.ng