Three Years After Tinubu Promised 3,000 CNG Buses, Nigerians Deserve Answers: Where Are They?
Three years after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced plans to invest ₦100 billion in the acquisition of 3,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered buses to cushion the effects of petrol subsidy removal, Nigerians deserve clear answers about how much of that promise has been fulfilled.
On July 31, 2023, in a national broadcast, President Tinubu announced that the Federal Government would invest ₦100 billion between then and March 2024 to acquire 3,000 20-seater CNG buses. The buses were intended for distribution across states and local governments to provide mass transportation at more affordable rates.
The commitment came at a critical moment. Following the removal of the petrol subsidy in May 2023, transportation costs rose sharply, placing additional pressure on households, workers, traders, students and small businesses already struggling with rising living expenses.
The promised buses were therefore more than a transportation project. They represented an opportunity to provide practical relief to millions of Nigerians whose daily movement had become increasingly expensive.
Three years later, where are the 3,000 buses?
According to the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (Pi-CNG & EV), its reported achievements include 655 CNG buses, 5,123 CNG tricycles and 40 electric buses procured and deployed. These figures indicate that the programme has expanded, but they also raise questions about the original commitment to acquire 3,000 CNG buses.
The distinction matters. The government’s broader CNG initiative includes vehicle conversions, refuelling infrastructure, tricycles and other transport interventions. Those achievements should be acknowledged, but they do not automatically establish that the specific 3,000-bus commitment announced in July 2023 has been fulfilled.
In September 2024, the Federal Government unveiled 64 CNG buses at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Officials described the rollout as the first phase of a broader initiative that would distribute more than 500 CNG buses and 100 electric buses to labour and student unions.
That announcement raised expectations. Nigerians had reason to anticipate that a substantial fleet of affordable public transport vehicles would eventually become available across the country.
Yet the figures published by the presidential initiative leave a significant gap between the original target of 3,000 buses and the reported deployment of 655 CNG buses. The government needs to explain whether the remaining buses were purchased, are awaiting deployment, or have been affected by changes in implementation plans.
What could 3,000 buses have done for ordinary Nigerians?
Consider the potential impact of the promised fleet. If all 3,000 buses had been deployed and operated efficiently, each with a capacity of 20 passengers, they could collectively accommodate 60,000 passenger journeys per full trip across the fleet.
With multiple trips daily, the buses could have served substantially more passengers, helping workers reach their workplaces, students attend classes, traders transport themselves to markets and families move around their communities at lower cost.
Affordable public transportation could also have reduced the pressure on household budgets, improved access to employment and education, and supported economic activities in cities and communities where commercial transport fares have become difficult to afford.
However, these benefits would depend on the buses being operational, adequately maintained, properly distributed and run on routes with fares low enough to deliver meaningful savings.
Electric Buses Also Promised
The electric bus component deserves equal scrutiny. The Federal Government's September 2024 announcement included plans to distribute more than 500 CNG buses and 100 electric buses to labour and student unions. Subsequent official programme figures list 40 electric buses alongside the reported 655 CNG buses. Nigerians deserve a clear breakdown of how many were delivered, where they are operating and how many commuters benefit from them.
This is not an argument against the CNG initiative itself. Transitioning to cheaper transport energy, expanding refuelling infrastructure and converting vehicles can all deliver economic benefits. The question is whether implementation has matched the scale and urgency of the hardship that the programme was supposed to address.
A recent report by The Guardian highlighted the continuing gap between the government's ambitious CNG targets and the pace of implementation, noting that the benefits have yet to transform transportation costs nationwide as originally envisaged.
Three years on, Nigerians deserve accountability.
The removal of petrol subsidies was presented as a difficult economic decision whose savings would help fund public services and interventions that improve people's lives. Affordable transportation was one of the promised measures to soften the immediate impact.
If the government announced a ₦100 billion investment to acquire 3,000 buses by March 2024, the public should not have to rely on scattered announcements to understand what happened to that commitment.
Where was the money spent? How many of the original 3,000 buses were actually purchased? How many are operational? Which states received them? What happened to the outstanding balance, and what measurable reductions in fares have resulted from the programme?
These are reasonable questions in a democracy, particularly when millions of Nigerians continue to face the burden of expensive transportation.
The difference between a policy announcement and a successful public intervention is the difference between making a promise and delivering measurable relief.
Another failure of governance?
For many Nigerians, the slow pace of delivery raises serious concerns about government accountability and the execution of policies announced to ease economic hardship. Whether the administration considers the broader CNG programme a success or not, the original commitment must be assessed against its specific targets, deadline and intended beneficiaries.
Three years after the announcement, the question remains: what happened to the 3,000 buses Nigerians were promised?
The government owes the public a transparent account of the ₦100 billion commitment, the buses procured, the buses deployed and the transportation savings actually delivered.
Nigerians are not asking for another announcement. They are asking for results.
Source note: This report draws on the Federal Government's July 2023 national broadcast, official Pi-CNG & EV programme figures and published reporting on the implementation of the initiative.
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