President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced an agreement with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to bring down the cost of transportation across states, with October 1 set as the target date for Nigerians to begin enjoying lower fares.
The President disclosed this on Thursday after a meeting with the Governors, saying the state chief executives had, on their own initiative, resolved to take immediate steps to reduce transport costs, with emphasis on the benefits of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and electric vehicles.
He said the Federal Government was already deepening investment in the energy transition through the Presidential CNG Initiative, under which over 120,000 vehicles have been converted nationwide, with more than 100,000 additional conversion kits currently being processed.
Tinubu said the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund was financing more than 100 gas projects across the country, including 15 CNG mother stations and 86 daughter stations, four of which he personally commissioned in Lagos, Abuja and Owerri in May.
Among the projects commissioned, he said, was a 15-station refuelling network in Lagos and an Abuja facility capable of serving 1,000 cars and tricycles, and 50 trucks and buses daily.
The President said he had directed the rollout of an additional 500 CNG refuelling stations nationwide, on top of the 500 earlier ordered by the Fund, bringing the total to 1,000 stations across the country.
He noted that intra-state transport was where Nigerians felt the burden of cost most directly, and where states held the greatest leverage to provide relief, commending the Governors for moving to extend such benefits to residents.
According to him, a joint Federal and State committee will be set up to immediately begin implementing the agreed measures, noting that a vehicle running on CNG spends 60 to 80 per cent less on fuel compared to one running on petrol.
“From October 1, our goal is that Nigerians begin to partake in those savings through lower transport fares. We have agreed that cheaper fuel should result in cheaper fares,” Tinubu said.
He called on all tiers of government to keep playing their part and work together for the benefit of every Nigerian, adding: “Nigeria First.”
