President Bola Tinubu on Thursday said that state governors had agreed to begin measures aimed at reducing intra-state transport fares from 1 October, using cheaper fuel from compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric vehicles.
Tinubu disclosed this after discussions with the Governors’ Forum, saying the governors had decided on their own to take immediate steps to reduce transport costs in their states.
He said the decision was important because intra-state transport is where Nigerians directly feel the cost of movement, giving state governments a major part in delivering lower fares.
Tinubu said the Federal Government and the states had also agreed to establish a joint committee to begin implementing the measures immediately.
Governors to apply cheaper fuel to transport
Tinubu revealed that a vehicle powered by CNG spends 60 to 80 per cent less on fuel than a petrol-powered vehicle.
He said the governors would focus on using this cost difference to reduce what passengers pay for transport within their states.
“We have agreed that cheaper fuel should result in cheaper fares!”
The President said the Federal Government was already putting money into the transition to alternative vehicle fuels, with more than 120,000 vehicles converted to CNG nationwide through the Presidential CNG Initiative.
He said more than 100,000 conversion kits were also in the works, alongside the expansion of conversion centres and refuelling infrastructure.
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The figures indicate that the Federal Government is building a larger CNG network at the same time the states are being asked to translate lower fuel costs into lower transport fares.
The Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund is financing more than 100 gas projects in the country, Tinubu said.
The projects include 15 CNG mother stations and 86 daughter stations.
In May, Tinubu commissioned four of the projects in Lagos, Abuja and Owerri. They included a 15-station refuelling network in Lagos and an Abuja facility capable of serving 1,000 cars and tricycles and 50 trucks and buses each day.
The President also said he had directed the rollout of another 500 CNG refuelling stations nationwide. This is in addition to the 500 stations ordered earlier in the year by the Fund, taking the programme to 1,000 stations.
Federal investment meets state transport powers
The decision places the cost of intra-state transport largely within the hands of state governments, which Tinubu said control the levers in that area.
His message to the governors was that the savings from cheaper vehicle fuel should reach passengers through lower fares.
The governors’ decision is therefore tied directly to the expansion of CNG infrastructure and vehicle conversion already being funded by the Federal Government.
Tinubu said the Federal Government was continuing to expand conversion centres and refuelling infrastructure nationwide as part of the energy transition.
The joint Federal and State committee is expected to begin work immediately on the agreed measures. Tinubu did not provide details in his Thursday Facebook statement on how individual states would calculate or enforce new fares.
The President said the governors had taken the decision on their own initiative after their discussion with him.
“I am pleased with my discussion with the Governors’ Forum this afternoon. The Governors have, on their own initiative, resolved to take immediate measures to bring down the cost of transportation in their states, with a strong focus on leveraging the cost benefits of CNG and electric vehicles.”
He said the Federal Government’s investment was intended to make the lower fuel cost available through infrastructure and vehicle conversion, with state governments handling intra-state transport.
Tinubu also stressed that all levels of government had responsibilities in making the arrangement work.
“Each tier of government must keep doing its part and work together for the benefit of every Nigerian.”
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