Cheaper Fuel, Cheaper Fares: Tinubu, Governors Strike Deal to Cut Transport Costs From October

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced that state governors have resolved, on their own initiative, to bring down the cost of transportation nationwide by leaning on the cost advantages of CNG and electric vehicles, with a target of lower transport fares taking effect from October 1, 2026.

The President said the Federal Government has already converted over 120,000 vehicles nationwide through the Presidential CNG Initiative, with more than 100,000 additional conversion kits in the pipeline, while continuing to expand conversion centres and refuelling infrastructure across the country.

Through the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, government is currently financing more than 100 gas projects nationwide, including 15 CNG mother stations and 86 daughter stations, with four projects already commissioned in Lagos, Abuja and Owerri in May, among them a 15 station refuelling network in Lagos and an Abuja facility able to serve 1,000 cars and tricycles and 50 trucks and buses daily.

Tinubu said he has directed the rollout of another 500 CNG refuelling stations nationwide, in addition to 500 ordered earlier in the year, bringing the total programme to 1,000 stations across the country, noting that a vehicle running on CNG spends 60 to 80 per cent less on fuel than one running on petrol.

The President said a joint Federal and State committee will begin implementing the fare reduction measures immediately, stressing that intra state transport is where Nigerians feel fuel costs most directly and where states hold the greatest leverage to pass on the savings.

By Asiwaju Adekunle Saheed