As the 50 percent slash in price of interstate transport fare for Nigerians travelling during the Yuletide approved by President Bola Tinubu ended yesterday, travellers have appealed to the federal government to extend it.
The travellers who spoke to LEADERSHIP Friday yesterday in separate interviews at the Oshodi Transport Interchange, Lagos commended the government for granting a 50 percent discount on their fares to various destinations within the country.
They argued that a lot of people who travelled to different parts of the country were still returning back to their bases and urged the government to extend till January 7, 2024.
A traveller who identified himself as Mrs Amaka Eze and travelled with Mosco Sienna Link at Terminal 2 in Oshodi Transport Interchange Centre to Onitsha, Anambra State said, “I thank the federal government for this initiative. I want to appeal that the initiative be extended till weekend so that a lot of people planning to return back to their base by weekend after Christmas and New Year break can benefit.’’
Another passenger, Omoshebi Esther, going to Akure, who was given N3,750 being half of the N7,500 she paid said, “I am very happy. It is a good move by the Federal Government and we appreciate them for this. If they can extend it beyond today it will be appreciated.’’
Commenting on the implementation of the initiative, the managing director of Planet Project Limited, Engr Abiodun Otunola, said the government through the laudable initiative succeeded in reducing hardship caused by the removal of fuel subsidy.
He said, ‘’We are the managers of Oshodi Transport Interchange. So far, we 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 percent increase in the number of passengers compared to what we normally would have recorded during the Christmas period.
‘’Nigerians took advantage of the fact that there is a 50 percent reduction in transport fare. As you know, transport is one of the pain points of the fuel subsidy removal because of this laudable programme by the federal government. From this terminal we have run over 6,000 passengers and so far over 700 vehicles in 15 days, which is far far higher than what we could have during the festive period at this point in time based on our historical data.’’
