No fewer than 128 travellers from Abuja, bound for different destinations in the Northern part of the country; Gombe, Bauchi, Yola and Maiduguri, on Monday, enjoyed the implementation President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive on 50% discount on transport fares for Nigerians during the yuletide.
The travellers, who were freighted to their destinations, paid only half of the transport fares charged for each of their destinations, as monitored by the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMT) Situation Room Monitoring Team on Christmas Day.
The North-bound passengers got immediate reimbursement of 50% of the transport fares paid upon boarding their vehicles, from the Chairman of the Association of Luxury Bus Owners (ALBON)’s Task Force on the Implementation of the discount, Chief Clement Okuefuna, who personally conducted the disbursement in cash at the Area 1 Motor Park from where most of the buses which conveyed the passengers took off on Christmas day.
According to a statement by Olujimi Oyetomi, the routes to the north which were mostly serviced by low-capacity vehicles, ALBON has initiated a work arrangement with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), FCT Chapter, for high-capacity luxury vehicles to service the routes.
The statement said ALBON also made a promise to publicise venues for boarding the vehicles where passengers could be reimbursed 50% of the fares paid.
“Starting from as early as 5am on Christmas Day, four (4 Nos) 16-seater capacity buses began loading, their passengers given back half of the fares paid and dispatched to Gombe from Area 1 Park in Abuja. One 16-seater capacity bus was loaded with travellers who also got the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s discount of 50% and dispatched for Bauchi. Additional loaded and headed for Yola while yet another loaded and headed for Maiduguri.
“The last 16-seater passenger bus which loaded, got its passenger refunded half of the transport fares paid back to them and heading for Bauchi and Maiduguri rounded off the operation at Area 1 Motor Park, Abuja. Thus, eight (8) buses loaded with 16 passengers each, totalling 128 (One Hundred and Twenty-Eight) cheerful Nigerians got refunded half of transport fares they paid, courtesy of the directive and provisions made for the special period of Christmas (2023) and New Year (palliative ending on January, 4th, 2024).
“It was therefore no wonder to hear the politically conscious northern Nigerians cheering and chanting “Jagaban, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, 4 plus 4”, even when the intention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR in directing the transport palliative wasn’t towards a political end, but to renew hopes for a better Nigeria,” the statement noted.
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