President Tinubu set 1 October as a target for lower transport fares and says state governments hold the levers. A driver at Abuja’s Area 1 Motor Park told Leadership that operators there had received no directive.

On 19 September, President Tinubu said the fare from Area 1 to Gwagwalada in Abuja had dropped from ₦1,500 to ₦900. Uche Chijioke drives at Area 1 Motor Park. He told Leadership that neither drivers nor operators at the park had received any directive on the new fare regime. Leadership reported that the cut had yet to show up in fares there.

Both accounts can be true, because the President’s cut has conditions. Tinubu said the 40 per cent reduction applies to CNG-converted commercial vehicles in a partnership with the transport workers’ union, NURTW. The announcement doesn’t say what applies to a vehicle outside it. The reporting doesn’t say which vehicles at the park are inside it.

That leaves the fare on every other vehicle. On 27 August, Tinubu said who he thinks sets it. The goal was that from 1 October Nigerians begin to share the savings from cheaper fuel through lower fares, he said. Intra-state transport is where commuters feel the cost most directly, and state governments hold the levers. He called 1 October a goal, and not a fare order.

Leadership checked the states before the deadline. In Kebbi, the state government had neither received nor bought CNG vehicles for the plan. Kogi has no state-owned transport service, and its CNG buses have not started running. Muhammed Danladi drives at the Kogi International Park in Lokoja. He told Leadership the state could meet the target by buying and running its own buses and fixing fares at affordable rates.

Two states run their own buses. Kaduna said its 100 CNG buses carry passengers free of charge. The President said Abia’s 40 electric buses have fares subsidised by 50 per cent. Ondo is expanding its CNG programme.

For a state that doesn’t run buses, Tinubu’s instruction on 19 September was to work with unions and operators. He also asked states to support conversion and fleet deployment, facilitate the infrastructure and make sure the savings reach citizens as lower fares. The announcement as reported doesn’t specify a nationwide fare order or a penalty.

The savings depend on fuel and vehicles. Tinubu’s argument was that a CNG vehicle spends 60 to 80 per cent less on fuelthan a petrol one. The reporting cited here doesn’t say whether that is per kilometre, per journey or another measure. Lower fuel costs can leave room for lower fares. They don’t set the fare.

The supply is government-reported. Tinubu said more than 120,000 vehicles had been converted, with over 400 conversion centres and more than 90 refuelling stations. Nairametrics reported that the federal government remained behind its 2025 targets for CNG infrastructure, without setting out the targets. It said the plan depends on the availabilityof CNG and electric vehicles, conversion facilities, refuelling stations and gas supply across the states.

The commitment isn’t new. On 1 October 2023, Tinubu told the nation that CNG buses would run at a fraction of current fuel prices, with a positive effect on fares. Nairametrics reported that the federal government then provided ₦100 billion for 3,000 20-seater CNG buses. It doesn’t say how much was released or spent.

In this morning’s address, Leadership reports, Tinubu named more affordable transportation among the things prosperity should mean. He said the government would bring down the cost of living by reducing the cost of producing and moving goods and services.

The cited reporting doesn’t show what commuters pay on routes outside the President’s examples. What they pay on 1 October has not yet been reported.