Despite President Bola Tinubu’s directive that transportation fares should begin to fall from October 1 following the deployment of Compressed Natural Gas-powered buses, commuters across several states are yet to experience any significant reduction.
Checks across the states on Thursday showed that transport fares remained largely unchanged, while some commuters reported paying higher fares despite the Federal Government’s CNG initiative.
Although some state governments have introduced subsidised or free CNG-powered transportation schemes, the programmes remain limited in coverage, leaving many commuters dependent on commercial transport operators still contending with high fuel, spare parts and maintenance costs.
In several states, transport unions said they were yet to receive CNG buses, while motorists also complained about inadequate infrastructure, including limited refuelling stations and CNG conversion centres.
The situation was reported in Enugu, Anambra, Delta, Imo, Sokoto, Kebbi, Jigawa, Gombe, Edo, Plateau, Ondo, Osun, Oyo and Ogun states, where fares remained largely unchanged as the October 1 deadline took effect.
President Tinubu had, on September 19, directed state governments to ensure that savings from the use of cheaper CNG-powered transportation were reflected in lower fares for Nigerians from October 1.
The President gave the directive in a statement updating Nigerians on the National Affordable CNG Transit Programme, which was established following his August 27 meeting with the 36 state governors.
He said the objective agreed with the governors was for more Nigerians to begin experiencing “measurable reductions in transportation costs” from October 1.
