FG, states establish joint committee to implement measures
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and state governors have agreed to work towards reducing transportation fares nationwide from October 1, 2026, by leveraging the lower operating costs of compressed natural gas and electric vehicles.
Tinubu disclosed this on Thursday after his discussion with the Governors’ Forum, saying the governors had on their own initiative resolved to take immediate measures to bring down the cost of transportation in their respective states.
According to the President, the initiative will focus strongly on using the cost benefits of CNG and electric vehicles to reduce the burden of transportation on Nigerians.
“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,” Tinubu said.
The President said the Federal Government was already making significant investments in the energy transition through the Presidential CNG Initiative.
He said more than 120,000 vehicles had been converted to CNG nationwide, while more than 100,000 additional conversion kits were in the works.
Tinubu added that the government was also expanding conversion centres and refuelling infrastructure across the country.
He said the Federal Government, through the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, was financing more than 100 gas projects nationwide.
The projects, according to him, include 15 CNG mother stations and 86 daughter stations.
The President recalled that he commissioned four of the projects in Lagos, Abuja and Owerri in May, including a 15-station refuelling network in Lagos.
He also cited an Abuja facility capable of serving 1,000 cars and tricycles and 50 trucks and buses daily.
Tinubu further disclosed that he had directed the rollout of an additional 500 CNG refuelling stations nationwide.
The new stations are in addition to the 500 stations earlier ordered by the Fund, bringing the total planned rollout to 1,000 CNG refuelling stations across the country.
The President said intra-state transportation was the area where Nigerians felt the cost most directly, stressing that state governments controlled the key levers in that area.
“Intra-state transport is where Nigerians feel the cost most directly, and it is where the states hold the levers,” he said.
Tinubu said he was encouraged by the decision of the governors to move the benefits of the energy transition closer to Nigerians.
He disclosed that the Federal Government and state governments had agreed to establish a joint committee to begin implementing measures aimed at reducing transport costs immediately.
The President said vehicles powered by CNG spend between 60 and 80 per cent less on fuel than petrol-powered vehicles.
He said the government’s target was for Nigerians to begin benefiting from those savings through lower transport fares from October 1.
