President Bola Tinubu has directed a 50 percent cut in land transportation fares from today to January 4, 2024, across the country.
The President also approved zero fare for train transportation in all the states of the federation within the same period.
Reacting to the development, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, dismissed the announcement as unworkable, saying government cannot decree low fares by fiat.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development and Chairman of Inter-Ministerial Committee on Presidential Intervention, Mr. Dele Alake, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Alake flanked by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, Minister of Transportation, Saidu Alkali and the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Alake, said all the logistics on the implementation had been worked out with the Minister of Transportation, the transport unions and luxury bus owners.
The luxury buses have 22 designated routes for the inter-state transportation.
He said: “In the spirit of Christmas and the end of year festivities, President Tinubu, in another demonstration of his love for Nigerians, has approved that the Federal Government should intervene to bring down the cost of public transportation to allow our compatriots who want to travel to visit their loved ones and hometowns to do so without stress and the extra burden imposed by the high cost of transport around this period.
“The President is well aware of the recent increase in cost of inter-state transportation and even for air travel. Traditionally, our people love to travel during Christmas and the end of year to be with families and friends and this has been the practice for ages.
“We also know that globally, intra-country travels and movement of people, goods and services always peak around Christmas and end of the year because of socio-gravitational pull of the period which transporters always cash on to increase fares astronomically.
“In recognition of the economic situation of the country which he is working very hard to turn around, President Tinubu wants Nigerians to be able to travel within Nigeria to wherever they want to go to meet their loved ones without the extra-burden of paying exorbitantly for inter-state public transportation.
“This special presidential intervention will commence Thursday, December 21. It will end on January 4, 2024.
“From tomorrow (today), Nigerians wishing to embark on inter-state travel to any part of the country from Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Ibadan, Akure, Maiduguri, Sokoto and other major inter-state transportation hubs will be able to do so at half the cost.”
Speaking on reasons for engaging luxury bus Unions, the Minister of State for Transport, Saedu Alkali, said: “Why we decided to use luxury buses union is because they are more organised and more structured. So, we held a meeting with the president of the union and they gave us an idea on how much they charge on a normal day but during festive when the buses travel, they return empty and it is on that account that they have to increase the fair during festivities. That has been taken into account. We held several meetings with Mr President.
“And why we decided to have 50 percent for the land transport, when you have this kind of initiative or programme to implement, you have to be mindful of the security situation. If you say it is for free, even those that did not intend to travel will just go to the park and say I want to travel. But with this 50 percent, they have the ticketing system.”