The Ogun State Government set to release 100 CNG Buses to transporters to cushion the effects of transportation.

Gov Abiodun also said that the FG would make available 20 CNG buses, 500 conversion kits to the state government.

Said there was no need for transporters to increase transport fares by over 1000% when the price of PMS was just increased by 30%.

The Ogun State government has announced that One Hundred (100) brand new Compressed Natural Gas-powered 18-seater Toyota Hiace buses will be made available to transporters to cushion the effects of transportation in the state.

Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun disclosed this at a meeting with transport unions on Monday, where measures to tackle the rising transport fares in the state caused by the recent hike in the pump price was discussed.

“The plans that we have as a state government, our plans are to, in the first instance, make 100 buses—100 18-seater buses—available to our transport unions. These will be 100 brand new CNG buses, and these buses will be brand buses, not no-name buses. We are talking about Toyota Hiace buses that we will give to you under a purchase agreement.

“We will make them available to you, and you can pay in installments over a period of time. You have demonstrated commitment and seriousness, and we are confident that when we give you these buses, you will utilize them responsibly and pay back on time.

During the meeting in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, Abiodun also said that the Federal Government would make available 20 CNG-enabled buses and 500 conversion kits to the state government during the week.

“The Federal Government has also started an Energy Transition Program through the Presidential CNG initiative, and I can confirm to you that the Presidency has confirmed that they are making 20 buses available to Ogun State in the first instance—20 CNG buses. We will be getting those buses in the next week.

“They are also making 500 CNG conversion kits available to Ogun State for the immediate conversion of vehicles to CNG-enabled.

“I have been assured that the conversion kits, which is the first batch of 500, will reach us in the next five days. You know that we have a conversion center in Ogun State. We are a major conversion center for the Southwest, and we will begin the conversion of vehicles in accordance with how we agree in terms of scheduling who will come first and what vehicles we will begin to convert,” he said.

Speaking further, Governor Abiodun noted that there was no need for transporters to increase transport fares by over 1000% when the price of PMS was just increased by 30%.

“We’ve seen in the past that when there is a change in pump prices by maybe 10%, we have noticed that our transporters also naturally increase fares because the cost of their operational equipment—be it motorcycles, tricycles, trucks, or buses—is impacted.

“What we’ve noticed is that when there is a change in the pricing of petroleum products by 10% to 20%, the impact that we see play out at times is like 2000%, and we want to dialogue to ensure the people are not stretched.

“The change in price is about 25% or 30%, so if pump prices have changed by like 25% to 30%, we should not see a difference in transport fares that is more than 25% or 30%,” he said.

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