Governor Bago Approves of 200 CNG Buses 

Niger State Government has signed an agreement with four different contracting firms for the purchase of 200 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses.

The signing of the agreement was supervised by Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago at the Government House, Minna.

Governor Umaru Bago in his remarks said the purchase of the 200 buses is in fulfilment of his promise to provide free transportation for pupils and students.

The Governor also stated that transportation fares will be subsidized for all Civil servants both inter and intra-state services.

The Governor said the first 100 Buses will be deployed to serve commuters between Abuja and Suleja, 50 to be used in Minna, the state capital while the remaining 50 Buses will be spread across other Local Government Areas, explaining that an additional 300 Buses will be purchased next year as part of the second phase of the scheme.

Describing the initiative as a way of reducing hardship faced by citizens due to fuel subsidy removal, Governor Bago said the gesture is also to bring a revolution in the transportation system and reduce the rate of accidents on roads.

He said that in the next four years, the State intends to purchase 1000 CNG buses and electric motorcycles to reduce the pollution caused by the fuel engine motorcycles.

While calling on the contractors to deliver the buses according to the specifications, the Governor also called on investors to take advantage of the policy to establish CNG plants in the state.

The Commissioner for Transportation Hajiya Hadiza Idris Kuta said the State Government is to purchase the Buses at about N7 billion.

Representative of Nationwide Unity Transport Limited, Mohammed Bawa who spoke on behalf of other contractors, disclosed that the 200 high-capacity buses will be of great quality and will come with a warranty of two years while availability of spare parts will be for the next 10 years.

He assured Nigerlites that all contractors will stick to contract agreement.

The four contracting firms are Topdesk International, Nationwide Unity Transport Limited, Afrobase Services Limited and Musako Motors and Transportation Nigeria Limited.

The four companies are to provide fifty Buses each and the delivery is expected to be completed in 12 weeks.