Tinubu has set 1 October as a target for lower fares, but implementation varies by state and route. Checks in Lagos and Abuja have found fares unchanged so far.

Adebayo Ojo told Leadership on 7 September that the bus he took from Iyana-Ipaja to Oshodi in Lagos charged ₦500. That is what petrol-powered buses charge too.

On 27 August, President Tinubu met the governors. "From October 1, our goal is that Nigerians begin to partake in those savings through lower transport fares," he said. His reasoning was that a CNG vehicle spends 60 to 80 per cent less on fuel than a petrol one. On 19 September, he directed all 36 states to make sure the savings reach commuters through lower fares.

He also listed fares that had already fallen, under different arrangements. On Abuja routes covered by a partnership with the transport union, CNG vehicles charge 40 per cent less, he said. Area 1 to Gwagwalada went from ₦1,500 to ₦900. He said CNG buses at Oyo's Pacesetter Transport cut the Lagos to Ibadan fare from about ₦8,000 to ₦3,200 during the initial deployment. In Plateau, he said, government-supported buses charge ₦200 against more than ₦500 commercially.

Reporters found a different picture on the routes they checked. Leadership's checks on 7 September found the Sango-Ota to Oshodi route still costing ₦1,500 to ₦1,700, and Ojodu Berger to Ibadan about ₦2,500. Leadership reported later that the 40 per cent Abuja cut had not reached the Area 1 Motor Park. A driver there, Uche Chijioke, said neither drivers nor operators had received a directive on the new fares. He said drivers couldn't cut fares on their own without instructions.

Isiaka Apena chairs the Ikeja branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers. On 7 September he told Leadership, "We have only heard about the directive in the news." He said an owner who paid for his own fuel can't sensibly be told what to charge. In his account, the union could appeal to transporters to reduce fares slightly, and fares won't fall unless the government subsidises the vehicle or its running costs.

The programme's figures are about 120,000 converted vehicles, roughly 400 conversion centres and barely 90 refuelling stations. Automotive expert Luqman Mamudu put the 120,000 against a registered fleet of 15 million, which is about 0.8 per cent. A commercial bus driver on the Berger to Ikeja route told Leadership the queue at a CNG station sometimes runs past five hours. Leadership reported that some drivers pass the cost of lost time on to passengers.

The programme's chief operating officer, Tosin Coker, told Leadership the rollout would go state by state and "will not be one-size-fits-all." He said the 1 October target shouldn't be read as a single national conversion quota.

The NBS put the average intra-city bus fare at ₦1,397.27 per drop in April, 39.83 per cent higher than the ₦999.27 of April 2025, Nairametrics reported.

The fares in Leadership's Lagos checks are from 7 September. What commuters pay on 1 October has not yet been reported.