FG to begin periodic testing of all generators in Nigeria over air pollution

The Federal Government has announced that it will commence periodic testing of generators and vehicles for toxic and gas emissions in order to reduce air pollution in the country.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Environment, Muhammad Abdullahi, at an event in Abuja, the nation's capital on Monday, January 23, 2022. The event was the official flag-off of the two programmes, namely, the National Generator Emissions Control Programme (NGECP)and the National Vehicular Emissions Control Programme (NVECP).

Worthy of note is the fact that the programmes were finally launched 9 years after it was first announced in 2014 by the National Environmental Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA) during the administration of former president, Goodluck Jonathan.

The minister said that the initiative which was conceived out of a need to protect Nigerians and the environment from the hazards of injurious emissions will be implemented and enforced by NESREA.

Abdullahi stated that hotels, restaurants, companies and other service-providing businesses that power generators for as long as 15 hours or more would henceforth be placed under close watch by the NESREA.

The NGECP would focus on stationary sources of pollution which includes generating sets, while the NVECP will focus on mobile sources of pollution, which are motor vehicles plying the roads.

He added the implementation of the NGECP would commence with generating sets with a capacity of 10kva and above. The generators would be monitored to attain the lowest limit of Euro III emission standard as agreed at the ECOWAS regional level.

Also speaking on the new initiative, Prof. Aliyu Jauro, the Director General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA) stated that the defaulters will be sanctioned after a series of warnings to fix the problem is not adhered to.

The programmes which will involve the periodic testing of generators and vehicles for toxic gas emissions will be under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. It is expected that the introduction of the programmes will reverse the health hazards caused by injurious gases released into the atmosphere by these engines.