President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday said state governors had resolved to take immediate measures to bring down the cost of transportation in their respective states by leveraging the lower costs inherent in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and electric vehicles.
The president explained that a joint Federal and State committee would implement the measures immediately, assuring Nigerians of lower transport fares from October 1.
The plan was revealed in a statement on Thursday after Tinubu met with some governors at the Villa in Abuja.
The development is coming on the back of the ongoing petrol subsidy debate between the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar and the Presidency.
Atiku has promised to restore the fuel subsidy through a redesigned regime that subsidises the cost of crude supplied to refineries if elected president in 2027.
‘My proposal is not to resurrect the old subsidy regime. We will move the subsidy from importation to production, from middlemen to Nigerian refineries, and from unverifiable claims to verifiable barrels. The principle is simple: the subsidy will follow the barrel,’ Atiku had said.
But the Presidency had faulted Atiku’s proposal, describing it as evidence of ‘serious ignorance of governance and economy.’
Atiku premised his move on the position that subsidy savings have not benefited Nigerians as the costs of food and transportation continue to rise.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu, in a post on his Facebook page on Thursday, said the federal and state governments had agreed to take drastic measures to bring relief to Nigerians through cheaper transportation costs.
‘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 wrote.
He said the federal government is already investing significantly in the energy transition through the Presidential CNG Initiative, with over 120,000 vehicles converted nationwide and more than 100,000 additional conversion kits in the works.
‘At the same time, we continue to expand conversion centres and refuelling infrastructure nationwide. The Federal Government, through the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, is currently financing more than 100 gas projects across the country, including 15 CNG mother stations and 86 daughter stations.
‘In May, I commissioned four of these projects in Lagos, Abuja and Owerri, including a 15-station refuelling network in Lagos and an Abuja facility that can serve 1,000 cars and tricycles and 50 trucks and buses a day,’ he stated.
The president said he had directed the additional rollout of another 500 CNG refuelling stations nationwide in addition to the 500 stations ordered earlier in the year.
He noted that Nigerians feel the cost mostly from intra-state transport, ‘where the states hold the levers,’ saying he is encouraged that the governors are moving to bring these benefits closer to the people they serve.
‘We have agreed to set up a joint Federal and State committee to begin implementing these measures immediately. A vehicle running on CNG spends 60 to 80 per cent less on fuel than 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! Each tier of government must keep doing its part and work together for the benefit of every Nigerian,’ he added.
Tinubu in panic mood over my subsidy plan – Atiku
Responding, Atiku said the president’s move to cut the transportation cost is ‘not policy innovation’ but ‘panic dressed in presidential grammar.’
His Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, told Daily Trust that President Tinubu’s statement is not a transport policy, but ‘a confession extracted by failure and forced by Atiku’s argument.’
‘For more than three years, this government told Nigerians that hunger was reform, that collapsing purchasing power was sacrifice, and that ruinous fuel prices were the unavoidable price of progress,’ he said,
He argued that after Atiku had put forward ‘a clear alternative – support Nigerian production, reduce the cost of fuel, cap the intervention, track every barrel and put purchasing power back in the pockets of Nigerians,’ Tinubu suddenly discovered that cheaper fuel should mean cheaper transport.
‘Wonderful discovery,’ he added.
According to him, ‘The bus driver knew it. The market woman knew it. The farmer knew it. Atiku knew it and built a policy around it. Tinubu mocked the idea. Now that Nigerians are rallying around Atiku’s cost-of-living message, the government is scrambling to borrow the logic it once condemned. This is not policy innovation; it is panic dressed in presidential grammar.’
He urged Nigerians not to be distracted by ‘another festival of committees, conversion statistics and October promises. One hundred and twenty thousand converted vehicles cannot carry an economy of more than 200 million people that Tinubu’s petrol-price shock has pushed to its knees. Nigerians are hungry today. Transport is expensive today. Food is expensive today. Small businesses are dying today.’
‘Atiku’s point has always been simple: you do not fight poverty by making the basic energy that moves food, workers and commerce unaffordable. When fuel rises, transport rises. When transport rises, food rises. When food rises, the household shrinks. CNG is useful, but it cannot become an alibi for three years of economic punishment. You cannot burn down the family budget, arrive with a conversion kit and demand applause for compassion,’ he added.
Our stand on subsidy, transport cost – Govs
The state governors under the platform of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) said they had agreed to support the proposed implementation of National Affordable CNG Transit Programme (NACTP) to help reduce the cost of transportation in the country.
The governors, who met at the NGF’s Secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday night, stressed that the initiative seeks state governments’ support for CNG vehicle conversions, fleets and other enabling infrastructure targeted at reducing passenger fares.
They, however, absolved themselves from blame that they have not properly accounted for funds received from the fuel subsidy removal.
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, who read the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting on behalf of the Chairman of the Forum, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, blamed the rising inflation in the country on the increase in transport cost.
According to Diri, the governors would work with the private sector to bring in more CNG vehicles in the country, because ‘gas is cheaper than petrol, which will actually reduce the costs of transportation.’
He expressed the belief that this would have a multiplier effect on every other sector, saying, ‘The impact is expected to be on our people, the common man.’
The communiqué read, ‘The Forum received a presentation on the proposed National Affordable CNG Transit Programme (NACTP), a State-led initiative designed to translate the lower operating cost of CNG into reduced transport fares for citizens.
‘The proposal envisages state support for CNG vehicle conversions, fleets and enabling infrastructure, alongside fare commitments from participating operators, with an indicative target of reducing passenger fares. Governors noted the initiative’s potential to ease transportation costs and agreed on the need to further consider its financing and implementation framework.’
Asked about the timeline for the implementation of the NACTP, Diri said the details would be worked out between the Forum and the proponents of the programme, adding that ‘those details will be worked out between the Forum and those who have come to present to the Forum.’
Responding to the debate on fuel subsidy removal and calls for a reversal of the policy, Diri noted that the NACTP was among measures being considered to cushion the impact of the reform on Nigerians.
He said, ‘These are part of the issues that have been addressed, particularly with the number two that I just talked about today about transportation fares’.
Motorists’ experience with CNG
Meanwhile, Daily Trust reports that motorists using CNG in Abuja and some states are facing growing difficulties as the number of converted vehicles continues to outpace the refuelling stations, leaving about 70 active auto-gas stations to serve tens of thousands of vehicles nationwide
Daily Trust checks show that despite attracting over N2 trillion in private sector investments in about three years, the federal government is still falling short of its CNG infrastructure targets
Also, for long-distance operators, the availability of CNG is another major consideration. A truck travelling on a route without adequate CNG infrastructure may have to plan its journey around available stations, potentially increasing downtime and operating costs.
The federal government says it has established more than 90 CNG refuelling stations across 23 states, while additional infrastructure is being developed.
In a survey across Abuja, motorists say they spend hours and, in some cases, sleep overnight in long queues at the few active CNG dispensing stations, while inconsistent product availability has added to their frustration.
A member of the Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON), Comrade Chiwendo Ogbonna, said the shortage of stations had made CNG use increasingly difficult.
‘As you can see, cars queue from morning till night. Before you are able to get gas, you have to queue for the whole day,’ he said.
Ogbonna said the situation was affecting the earnings of commercial drivers, stressing the need for more CNG stations across Abuja.
‘Every day, more than 100 vehicles are converting from fuel to CNG. But conversion is not where the matter ends. It is about getting the gas,’ he said.
He added that some motorists had been waiting since the previous night for trucks to arrive with supplies.
Another motorist, Chuka Ajibo, attributed the shortage to inadequate investment by government and marketers, saying only a few filling stations had embraced the CNG project.
‘I think the government should encourage more business people to get into it, become interested and invest. There is a ready market for it,’ Ajibo said.
He described the long queues as a waste of manhour and called for more petroleum marketers to invest in CNG infrastructure.
Similarly, CNG user Chibuzor Evrunobi said unreliable supply and inadequate stations remained major challenges.
‘CNG is not always available. Even when it is available, the cars are more than the stations,’ he said.
Backstory
In 2023, President Tinubu’s administration introduced the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative as a cheaper and cleaner alternative to petrol, with the aim of reducing transportation costs following the removal of the petrol subsidy.
President Tinubu has repeatedly urged transport operators to ensure that the savings from CNG are passed on to commuters, most recently when he received the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), led by its president, Salimon Oladiti, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Tinubu said the benefits of cheaper CNG should ultimately reach passengers, rather than remain with transport operators.
His comments came amid the expansion of the federal government’s CNG programme, which was introduced as part of efforts to cushion the impact of the petrol subsidy removal and lower transportation costs.
The Presidential Initiative on CNG and Electric Vehicles says more than 120,000 vehicles have so far been converted to CNG, while over $2.5 billion has been invested in the clean transportation programme.
The CNG initiative is central to the federal government’s broader strategy to reduce transport fuel costs and ease pressure on foreign exchange by shifting demand toward domestically available natural gas.
Policymakers positioned CNG as a cheaper and cleaner alternative for mass transit operators, commercial fleets, and private motorists following fuel price deregulation.
Presidential directive mere political statement – Economist
An economist, Dr. Marcel Okeke, in a chat with Daily Trust on the President’s promise that the cost of transportation would come down by October, said no magic can be performed.
He said the directive appeared more like a political statement.
He said, ‘I don’t know what magic they’re going to perform, but you know that the presidential election campaign has started, and you know that the APC- has about, is it 30 or 32 state governors?
‘So I want to believe that he must have given this directive on the surface and behind the scenes. For that to happen, they must find a way to route money to those governors.
‘As I have argued in another forum, yes, the governors are getting more money from the FAAC account, in terms of the volume of money they’re getting. But in terms of value of money, because of the massive depreciation of the Naira, the volume of money they’re getting has increased. It’s not much.
‘I did an analysis somewhere in a live TV interview and I used one example. I said, in 2023, by May, one 50-kg bag of cement was costing between N3,000 and N4,000.
‘If a state government was getting N1 billion at that time, you could see the quantity of cement it could buy with N1 billion. Now, as we are talking, the price per bag, 50-kg bag of cement, is between N12,000 and N15,000.
‘So if that state government is now getting N10 billion instead of N1 billion, is that better- is that government better off or worse off? Because with the N10 billion now, it cannot buy the quantity of cement that it used to buy when it was getting N1 billion.
‘So that is the plight of these state governors. So what will happen behind the scenes, you and I will not see, is that the government- the president has made this pronouncement, so they will find a way, somehow, to make money available to the governors behind the scenes for them to implement that kind of directive, because that is the fiat. That is the only way. Because what I’m telling you is that if the governors are left alone, they cannot implement what the government has- I mean, the directive the president has given.’
Okeke insisted that the governors would struggle to fund any new project that was not captured in their 2026 budgets, particularly at a time when many states were already operating under severe financial pressures.
He said the federal government would therefore have to find alternative funding mechanisms if it genuinely intended to implement the directives.
‘Yes. So they must find, somehow, a way to make money available behind the scenes, under the table. And that is why, from year to year, you have problems with project implementation,’ Okeke said.
The economist alleged that leakages within the public finance system had continued to undermine project implementation, arguing that funds released for development projects were sometimes diverted to other purposes.
‘In an election year like this, election season like this, and campaign season like this, you would see all kinds of laundered money, money coming from all parts of the world, by enemies. So that kind of money will be flowing in now, because the presidential campaign has started,’ he alleged.
He further argued that campaign spending could run into trillions of naira and suggested that the federal government would need to demonstrate clearly how the newly announced initiatives would be financed without undermining existing budgetary commitments.
Okeke said the absence of specific provisions for some of the initiatives in state budgets raised questions about how governors were expected to implement them.
‘Of course, you can see they’re not even budgeting what is directed to them to do. It’s not budgeted in the 2026 budget. No state has this kind of item,’ he said.