{"id":65540,"date":"2025-05-10T13:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T13:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=65540"},"modified":"2025-05-11T08:10:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T08:10:44","slug":"attacks-on-picng-is-political-criticism-signal-growth-project-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/05\/10\/attacks-on-picng-is-political-criticism-signal-growth-project-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Attacks on PICNG is Political, Criticism Signal Growth \u2013 Programme Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Patrick Idowu<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Programme Coordinator of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI), Engineer Michael Oluwagbemi, has described recent attacks on the programme as politically motivated attempts to undermine the bold reforms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.<\/p>\n

Oluwagbemi, reacting to what he called media blackmail and unfounded allegations, said the rising criticism is a clear indicator of the initiative\u2019s growing success and relevance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are not doing well, you won\u2019t be attacked. In politics, strong performance often attracts opposition. It comes with the territory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He linked the smear campaigns to a broader pattern targeting other key programmes of the administration such as the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP), drawing parallels with the opposition’s tactics during the Buhari administration ahead of the 2019 elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are signature policies of President Tinubu that are redefining governance. That is why they are being targeted,\u201d Oluwagbemi said.<\/p>\n

He, however, drew a line between patriotic whistleblowing and deliberate sabotage, urging critics to report any credible wrongdoing through proper channels rather than resorting to media ambush.<\/p>\n

\u201cOpposition is normal. But when you ignore internal mechanisms and go on air to damage the image of a programme meant to help the poor, it becomes unpatriotic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Oluwagbemi cited a case where a leading conversion center in Abuja, C&L Smart Technologies, was found selling government-supplied kits. He said the centre, despite being the most productive with 17 daily conversions, was promptly investigated and reported to the EFCC and DSS.<\/p>\n

He stressed that the PCNGI welcomes credible reports and would act swiftly on any verified claims of misconduct.<\/p>\n

On the distribution of free conversion kits to low-income transport workers, especially members of the NURTW, Oluwagbemi defended the initiative. He said the criticism from some quarters stemmed from commercial interests, not genuine concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne critic admitted on TV that this is the best government initiative in years but was angry that kits are now given free to drivers who cannot afford them. That is exactly the point \u2014 to help the poorest of the poor,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

According to him, many drivers operate on a hand-to-mouth basis and cannot afford upfront investments despite the long-term savings from CNG adoption.<\/p>\n

\u201cA driver running from Nyanya to Abuja daily lives on what he earns each day. How will he afford a kit that can boost his profit margin from 2 to 30 percent? That\u2019s why we are stepping in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Oluwagbemi maintained that the attacks will not deter the initiative, affirming the government\u2019s commitment to cleaner energy and economic empowerment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Patrick Idowu   The Programme Coordinator of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI), Engineer Michael Oluwagbemi, has described recent attacks on the programme as politically motivated attempts to undermine the bold reforms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. Oluwagbemi, reacting to what he called media blackmail and unfounded allegations, said the rising criticism […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":65541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59,750],"class_list":["post-65540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured","tag-pcngi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65540"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65566,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65540\/revisions\/65566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}