Transport owners write Tinubu over promised CNG buses

The Association of Private Transport Company Owners of Nigeria (APTCON) has written to President Bola Tinubu to seek details of his administration’s promised 100 billion interventions in the form of provision of 3,000 CNG buses following the removal of petrol subsidy.

The association, in a letter signed by Funsho Ogunro for the secretariat, commended the president for the promised intervention, declaring it a welcome development.

However, the transport owners recounted the challenges already being experienced even before the removal of subsidy, noting that they now faced an aggravated threat from the new subsidy-free era.

They acknowledged if the promised intervention is implemented, their cost of operations would fall and will have an additional impact of reduced transportation costs for commuters.

Highlighting the attractive credit arrangement for the acquisition of the buses, which features a single-digit interest rate of 9 percent and a repayment period of eight years, the association was full of praise for the government.

“While the industry had been facing challenges bordering on high taxation, forex and high Opex, the recent removal of PMS subsidy has had devastating effects on our ability to provide quality and affordable transportation to Nigerians within and across state lines.

“However, with the planned CNG bus introduction and its related access to credit at 9 percent per annum with a prolonged repayment period of at least eight years, we are confident that this crucial sector will receive the much-needed boost to enable it to lower its OPEX and offer cheaper transport fares”, APTCON said in the letter.

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Though the group said the federal government initiative was welcomed, and that it was very little compared to the amount saved from the policy.

“We believe that though the N100 billion intervention comes as a relief, it represents a tiny measure of the N1 trillion savings the government is making from fuel subsidy removal. We hope for more,” APTCON said.

Given that the implementation of the government’s intervention has not yet materialised, even though it was termed an ‘immediate’ intervention, the association urged the government to provide specifics regarding the timeline and administration of the intervention.

They specifically asked the government to reveal the criteria for qualification, and the date for release of the buses to its members.

“In addition, following the announcement, we would like to inquire about when these vehicles will be made accessible for our members,” they inquired in the letter.

It also pleaded with the federal government to avoid lost time as well as eliminate the possibility of malfunction due to poor adaptation and inexperience, saying APTCON appeals that the focus should be the purchase of vehicles with factory fitted CNG capacity not self-conversion of regular ICE vehicles using CNG kits,” the letter further reads.

The issue of government support for road transport operators has been a lingering one. Unlike Nigeria’s aviation industry in which the government has been more disposed to providing interventions, road transportation has been scarcely considered by the government for such interventions.

This situation has been deemed a paradox by industry watchers who have pointed to the fact that road transportation accounts for the largest share of passengers in Nigeria, by a distance.

They argued that the government must of necessity prioritise road transportation for substantial strategic interventions to truly impact Nigerian passengers.