Christmas Came… But The Free Train Didn’t: Questions Swirl Around Lost Transport Subsidy

Two years ago, the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led federal government introduced transport subsidies to ease travel costs for Nigerians during the Christmas and New Year celebrations, with the programme expected to run until January 2026. However, the initiative failed to materialise during the latest festive period. In this report, EJIKE EJIKE examines what went wrong.

For the second year running, Nigerians entered the Christmas and New Year travel season expecting relief from soaring transport costs, only to be met with confusion, silence, and grounded buses. Despite budgetary provisions and months of planning for the federal government’s 50 per cent festive transport subsidy, the programme inexplicably failed to take off in the 2025 yuletide period. With ministry staff left idle, travellers stranded, and no official explanation forthcoming, growing suspicions within the transport sector suggest that the subsidy may have been deliberately stalled, raising troubling questions about who benefits when a public relief programme quietly disappears.

In 2024, the federal government implemented temporary transport fare subsidies, offering 50 per cent discounts on road and rail travel during the Christmas and New Year festive periods (late Dec 2024 – early Jan 2025, and again Dec 2025 – Jan 2026) as part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to ease travel costs for citizens.

At the time, the federal government said implementation of the initiative involved collaboration with transport unions and rail operators to halve fares on interstate and local routes, although the programme faced delays and mixed public reception.

The minister of transportation, Senator Said Ahmed Alkali, explained that the federal government covers 50 per cent of agreed fares paid to transport unions and operators on major interstate and local routes. However, LEADERSHIP Weekend investigations reveal that the initiative, introduced to cushion the impact of fuel subsidy removal, abruptly failed to take off during the 2025 festive period, with no clear explanation from the federal government.

Some staff of the road mass transit, who spoke in anonymity, said “funding issues have sometimes delayed implementation of the programme. The plans were there and the staff were ready to take off for various duties across the country and up until now, we have not heard the reason for the delay or cancellation of this year’s programme. We suspect strongly that somebody is sitting on the programme and preventing it from been actualised because it is always captured in the budget of the year.”

As at December 26, the staff of the ministry of transportation are still not clear as to what to expect because nobody has spoken to them on whether to mobilise for the programme or go and enjoy their holidays at home.

Last year, as at December 23, 2024, the federal government through the Ministry of Transportation had kicked off the 50 per cent discount on road transportation fares.

Alkali in a statement had said the initiative, which would last for 13 days, would kick off on Tuesday, December 24, 2024, and run till Sunday, January 5, 2025.

During the exercise, the federal government said it hopes that 16, 944 persons will be moved to and fro daily with 271,104 passengers to and fro across the nation.

It projects to use 708 vehicles across 144 routes from Abuja and Lagos to all State Capitals, except Anambra State. For Anambra, the federal government said it would be Onitsha.

The minister had directed the leadership of Road Transportation Unions – Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), God is Good Motors (GIGM), and Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria (ALBON) to ensure that the palliative buses are moved to the designated loading points early on December 24, 2024 to move Nigerians who seek to take advantage of the initiative to join their loved ones across the country for Christmas (2024) and New Year (2025) celebration.

The minister also expressed regrets that the scheme was taking off late and explained that the delay was due to some logistic issues, which have now been largely sorted.

According to him, “Nigerians who intend to use the scheme from Abuja will take off from Eagle Square by 6.00 a.m. while those who are taking off from Lagos are to use Oshodi Terminal 3 for those going northern routes and Oshodi Terminal 2 for those going Southern routes.

“Time for daily take-off is 6 a.m. However, some of the participating luxury buses are taking off by 6-7p.m. daily from Oshodi, Lagos.

“Passengers intending to take advantage of the Yuletide road transportation palliative should note that they will be required to pay 50% of the cost that they will otherwise pay”.

The Ministry advised Nigerians to avoid rushing in the face of the limited numbers of vehicles designated for the 2024 Yuletide bus palliative to avoid unpleasant experiences.

However, the minister of transportation told LEADERSHIP that the minister is waiting for presidential approval.

The minister had explained that “President Tinubu, in his effort to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians during this period, introduced the programme two years ago. What we do is that every year, we go back for approval. For this year, we are still waiting for the approval of the president.”

It would be noted that the scheme has received praise for affordability but also criticism from some passengers for inconsistent implementation or limited coverage in certain areas.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has offered a 50 per cent discount on all bookings for travelers along the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge corridors unlike the usual free rain rides during festive periods.

A survey on the NRC online booking platform showed that travelers have made massive bookings to enjoy the festive discounts.

However, the NRC did not officially announce the discount but the online booking for the Lagos-Ibadan route for Tuesday, December 23, 2025 was fully booked as of 2 p.m.

The First Class, Business Class, and Standard Class categories for Christmas Eve, Wednesday 24, 2025 were all completely booked.

The online study also showed that festive discount for the Business Class that initially costs N4,792 was discounted at N2,396, representing about 50 per cent. The breakdown showed travel fare at N4,792 comes at a discounted rate is N2,396.

Also, the initial cost for passengers in the Standard Class for online booking was N3,195. The discounted fee is now N1,597, representing about 50 per cent.