Commuters Seek Extension as FG’s 50% Fare Reduction Scheme Ends

Festus Akanbi

Scores of commuters at the Oshodi Transport Interchange and other accredited parks in Lagos State have appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to extend the 50 per cent fare reduction on inter-state road transport services to January.

The calls came yesterday, as the Managing Director of Planet Project Limited, Mr. Biodun Otunola, disclosed that over 6,000 inter-state passengers benefitted from the scheme at the Oshodi Transport Interchange, Lagos alone.

In separate interviews with journalists, the commuters commended the federal government for granting a rebate of 50 per cent on their fare tickets to passengers travelling to different destinations across all states of the federation.

Specifically, they pointed out that thousands of people, who travelled homes during the yuletide period, had not fully returned to their cities or states of residence, thus urging the federal government to extend its fare reduction scheme to January 7.  
One of the commuters, Ms. Amaka Eze, thanked the president for the fare reduction scheme, but called on the federal government to extend it till January 7 to enable more citizens, who had not returned to their bases, to benefit from it.

Eze, who travelled to Onitsha, Anambra State through Mosco Sienna Link at the Oshodi Transport Interchange, said: “In all sincerity, I appreciate the federal government for introducing this scheme. The fare to Onitsha is N30, 000. But to my surprise, I received a rebate of N15, 000. It is truly huge.”
According to her, “I am appealing to the federal government to extend the scheme to January 7 to enable more people to benefit from it.
“A lot of people, who will return to their bases this weekend, will not benefit from it if the scheme is not extended. For this reason, we plead with President Tinubu to graciously extend it.”

Another passenger, Ms. Mariam Ogundeji also benefited from the fare reduction scheme at Terminal I, Oshodi Transport Interchange, noted that this was the first time the government policy would directly touch her life as a person.
Ogundeji, also a student of Kwara State Polytechnic, observed that the 50 per cent fare reduction scheme was a pro-people policy, which indeed cushioned the effects of fuel subsidy removal on the masses to some extent.

She urged the federal government, “to sustain initiating policies, programmes and projects that will directly touch the lives of ordinary people. For instance, I got a return of N3, 000 out of N6, 000 fare I paid to travel to Ilorin, Kwara State. It is amazing. I have not benefited from anything from the government before now.”  
 An entirely different commuter, Ms. Esther Omoshebi, shared how she received a rebate of N3, 750 from a bus operator after she paid a sum of N7, 500 for the Lagos-Akure road.

Omoshebi said: “I am indeed happy. It is a good move by the federal government. We appreciate President Tinubu for this initiative. If they can extend it beyond today, it will be more appreciated.’’
Commenting on the implementation of the initiative in Lagos State, Otunola stated that there had been a surge in the number of people travelling out since December 19 when the federal government announced the initiative.

Otunola said: “So far, we have had an upsurge in passenger numbers. We have been managing this terminal for the past five years, we could say that we have over 35 per cent increase in the number of passengers compared to what we normally would have recorded during the Christmas period.
 “Nigerians are kind of trooped out and took advantage of the fact that there is a 50 per cent reduction in transport fare. As you know, transport is one of the pain points of the fuel subsidy removal and because of this laudable programme of the federal government, a lot of Nigerians troop here daily, morning, afternoon and evening to take advantage of the opportunity so that they can travel for the yuletide season.

“From this terminal, over 6,000 passengers have benefitted from the initiative and so far over 700 vehicles in 15 days, have conveyed passengers out of the State which is far higher than what we could have during the festive period at this point in time based on our historical data,” he added.

Otunola, said the federal government “deserved a lot of credit for doing this within this period. This is the starting point. We believe that by the time this project is implemented in subsequent years, it will be better. There will be a lot more awareness, communication and information.

 “More stakeholders will be brought on board and the project will be more successful. For the first time, people were refunded money as high as N15, 000. So, they were shocked that even during elections they did not get that kind of money. From this terminal so far we have been 100 per cent compliant.”