The governor of Ogun, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has warned transporters in the state against exploiting members of the public as a result of the recent hike in the pump price of petrol.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), on the 3rd of September increased the price of petrol to N855 per litre.
The governor spoke in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun, on Monday during a meeting with leaders of transport unions on how to make sure that there is fair transportation pricing in the state.
Abiodun also announced that his administration would provide 100 new 18-seater compressed natural gas (CNG)-enabled buses for the use of transporters to alleviate the impact of the hike in petrol prices.
He added that the federal government would provide 20 CNG-enabled buses and 500 conversion kits to the state during the week.
“We’ve seen in the past that when there is a change in pump prices by maybe 10 percent, 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,” Abiodun said.
“What we’ve noticed is that when there is a change in the pricing of petroleum products by 10 percent to 20 percent, the impact that we see play out at times is like 2000 percent, and we want to dialogue to ensure the people are not stretched.
“The change in price is about 25 percent or 30 percent, so if pump prices have changed by like 25 percent to 30 percent, we should not see a difference in transport fares that is more than 25 percent or 30 percent.
“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.”
Whilst speaking on behalf of the transport heads, Samsudeen Apelogun, the national president of the Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Owners Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN), commended the governor for transforming the sector with the introduction of the e-mobility programme.
He then promised to call the stakeholders together and bring forth a more friendly transport fare that is within their control.