President Bola Tinubu has listed several states where the deployment of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and electric vehicles has resulted in significant reductions in transportation fares.
Tinubu, in a statement he personally signed on Saturday, said the reductions followed the Federal Government’s efforts to promote cheaper energy alternatives and directed all states to intensify preparations ahead of the October 1 target for more affordable transportation.
The president recalled that he met with the 36 state governors on August 27, where they agreed on the objective of ensuring that more Nigerians begin to experience measurable reductions in transportation costs from October 1.
He said an implementation committee for the National Affordable CNG Transit Programme was subsequently established under the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, chaired by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State.
According to Tinubu, the committee, in collaboration with PI-CNG, state governments and other stakeholders, is identifying priority transport corridors and determining interventions that would translate cheaper energy into lower fares.
He highlighted Borno as one of the states where the initiative is already producing significant results, saying CNG-powered and electric public transport services were carrying commuters for between N50 and N100 on routes where commercial operators charge between N300 and N600.
In Kaduna, Tinubu said 100 CNG-powered buses were providing free transportation on major routes, carrying about 3.2 million passengers in their first year and saving commuters more than N3.5bn in transport costs.
He said the deployment of CNG buses to Pacesetter Transport in Oyo State initially reduced the Lagos-Ibadan fare from about N8,000 to N3,200.
Similarly, alternative-energy transit services in Adamawa have reduced fares by as much as 50 per cent, from N8,000 to N4,000, while the Enugu-Nsukka fare dropped from N2,500 to N1,500 following the deployment of 100 CNG buses.
In Plateau State, government-supported buses transport about 13,000 commuters daily for N200, compared with more than N500 charged by commercial operators.
Tinubu also cited Abuja, where the Federal Government’s partnership with the National Union of Road Transport Workers has resulted in a 40 per cent reduction on several routes served by CNG-converted commercial vehicles.
He said fares from Area 1 to Gwagwalada had fallen from N1,500 to N900, Nyanya from N700 to N420, and Wuse from N400 to N240.
In Niger State, the President said passengers on the Suleja-Abuja route now pay N550 instead of about N800, while Abia State has deployed 40 electric buses with fares subsidised by 50 per cent.
“These are not projections. Nigerians are already experiencing these savings,” Tinubu said.
The president also disclosed that Edo State had 50 CNG buses in active service, while Kano had converted more than 1,000 commercial vehicles and was expanding its conversion and refuelling network.
He said Delta, Kwara and Lagos were expanding CNG-supported transport services, while Akwa Ibom had taken delivery of 50 CNG buses ahead of commercial operations.
Tinubu said the Federal Government had invested in building a CNG transportation ecosystem over the past three years, resulting in more than 120,000 vehicles being converted, over 400 certified conversion centres established and more than 90 CNG refuelling stations opened nationwide.
The Nigerian president said the need to accelerate the programme had become more urgent amid renewed pressure on global energy supplies and rising petrol and diesel prices. Recent reports have also documented renewed increases in petrol prices in parts of the country, with transportation costs under pressure.
He argued that Nigeria, as a gas-rich country, could reduce its exposure to fluctuations in global energy markets by expanding domestic alternatives such as CNG.
Tinubu rejected calls for a return to the former petrol subsidy regime, describing it as costly and leaving the economy vulnerable to international oil-price movements.
He urged governors to sustain the momentum towards October 1 by working with transport unions and commercial operators, supporting vehicle conversions and fleet deployment, and facilitating the infrastructure required to ensure that savings from cheaper energy are reflected in fares.
“The Federal Government will continue to support the scaling of CNG infrastructure and access, expand conversion capacity, and create the enabling environment for states, transport operators, manufacturers and private investors to participate,” he said.
SOURCE: PoliticsNigeria