The Federal Government of Nigeria has launched national emissions control programs for generators and vehicles in an effort to reduce air pollution caused by these machines. The announcement was made on Monday by the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, during the official flag-off of the National Generator Emissions Control Programme (NGECP) and the National Vehicular Emissions Control Programme (NVECP) in Abuja. These programs will involve periodic testing of generators and vehicles for toxic and greenhouse gas emissions.
Minister Abdullahi emphasized that the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) would be responsible for implementing these initiatives. He highlighted the importance of protecting both the environment and human health from the dangers posed by toxic air emissions. According to Abdullahi, the NGECP and NVECP are strategic measures aimed at reducing emissions from both stationary sources, such as generators, and mobile sources, like vehicles.
The implementation of these programs will be conducted through a public-private partnership and will include annual testing of generators and vehicles for harmful emissions. Abdullahi noted that NESREA’s role will involve setting national emission standards and developing a reliable national database management system to track emissions data generated from these programs in Nigeria. He also specified that the NGECP would initially target power generating sets with a capacity of 10kva and above, while the NVECP would set the lowest limit at the Euro III emission standard, as agreed upon at the ECOWAS regional level.
Prof. Aliyu Jauro, the Director-General of NESREA, mentioned that the implementation of these programs would be supported by existing environmental regulations, such as the National Environmental (Control of Emissions from Petrol and Diesel Engines) Regulations of 2011 and the National Environmental (Air Quality Control) Regulations of 2021. He explained that these regulations are part of NESREA’s mandate to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement, as outlined in Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions. Jauro concluded by stating that the NGECP and NVECP have been specifically designed to address emissions from both mobile and stationary sources.
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