Nigerians will see measurable reductions in transportation costs from Oct. 1 as the federal and state governments work with transport stakeholders to increase the use of cheaper compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered buses, President Bola Tinubu said on Saturday.
In a statement issued personally, Tinubu recalled a meeting with the governors of Nigeria’s 36 states on Aug. 27, at which they agreed that more Nigerians should benefit from lower transport costs.
An implementation committee for the National Affordable CNG Transit Programme was subsequently established under the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, he said.
The committee, chaired by Kwara state Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, is working with stakeholders to identify priority transport corridors and determine appropriate interventions.
Tinubu said the committee, the Presidential Initiative for Compressed Natural Gas (PI-CNG) and electric vehicles (EVs), states and other stakeholders were already working to put the necessary arrangements in place.
The urgency had increased amid a global energy crisis and its impact on petrol and diesel prices and transportation costs, he said.
Tinubu cited existing CNG and electric transport initiatives across several states as evidence that cheaper energy could translate into savings for commuters.
In Borno state, CNG-powered and electric public transport services carry commuters for between 50 naira and 100 naira on routes where commercial operators charge 300 naira to 600 naira, he said.
In Kaduna, 100 CNG-powered buses provide free transportation on major routes, carrying about 3.2 million passengers in their first year, Tinubu said. The buses saved commuters more than 3.5 billion naira in transportation costs during that period, he added.
In Oyo state, CNG buses deployed to Pacesetter Transport reduced the fare on the Lagos-Ibadan route from about 8,000 naira to 3,200 naira during their initial deployment, he said.
In Adamawa, alternative-energy transit services have cut fares by as much as 50%, from 8,000 naira to 4,000 naira, while in Enugu, where 100 CNG buses have been deployed, the Enugu-Nsukka fare has fallen from 2,500 naira to 1,500 naira, Tinubu said.
Government-supported buses in Plateau state carry about 13,000 commuters daily for 200 naira, compared with more than 500 naira charged by commercial operators, he said.
Through a partnership with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), passengers on CNG-converted commercial vehicles on several routes in Abuja receive a 40% fare reduction, Tinubu said.
Fares on the Area 1-Gwagwalada, Nyanya and Wuse routes have fallen from 1,500 naira to 900 naira, 700 naira to 420 naira and 400 naira to 240 naira, respectively, he said.
In Niger state, passengers on the Suleja-Abuja route pay 550 naira, compared with about 800 naira previously, while Abia state has deployed 40 electric buses with fares subsidised by 50%, Tinubu said.
He commended governors and state governments that had moved quickly, but urged them to do more and assured them of federal government support.
Tinubu said disruptions to global energy supplies were putting pressure on petrol and diesel prices and increasing transportation costs worldwide.
Nigeria could not control global energy markets but, as a gas-rich country, could reduce its exposure by using cheaper alternatives, he said.
Tinubu said his administration had invested in building a CNG transportation ecosystem across Nigeria over the past three years.
More than 120,000 vehicles have been converted, with more than 400 certified conversion centres and more than 90 CNG refuelling stations nationwide, he said.
The president urged states to maintain momentum towards Oct. 1 by working with transport unions and commercial operators to support vehicle conversions and fleet deployment.
“Above all, ensure that savings from cheaper energy reach Nigerian citizens through lower fares,” he told the governors.
Discover more from Energy News Africa
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.