Nigerians can now enjoy a 50% rebate on inter-state travel and 100% on train travel for Christmas and New Year festivities, starting tomorrow from major transportation hubs like Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Ibadan, a gesture by President Bola Tinubu to ease life of Nigerians during the festive season.
Minister of Solid Minerals Dele Alake disclosed this while briefing journalists at the State House on Wednesday, December 20.
Alake, chairman of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Presidential Intervention, briefed journalists alongside Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris; Minister of Transportation, Saidu Alkali; and Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. as well as other committee members.
According to him, the rebate, approved between December 21 and January 4, 2024, is particularly beneficial for those planning to travel for the festive season.
Alake clarified that the intervention, intended for the masses, would not be extended to air travel, as it is considered beyond the majority.
He said: “In the spirit of Christmas and demonstration of his love for Nigerians as proof, he feels the federal government should intervene to bring down the costs of public transportation to allow persons who want to travel to visit their loved ones.
“The President is well aware of the recent increase in the cost of interstate transportation. It is in this wise that the Federal Government is announcing, beginning from tomorrow, a special discounted holiday season fare on road transport and zero-fare by rail across Nigeria.
“What this means is that from tomorrow, Nigerians willing to travel can board public transport via minibusses, luxury buses at a 50% discount of current cost and all our train services on the routes the trains currently serve at zero cost to and fro on their travels this holiday season.
“This special presidential intervention will commence tomorrow Thursday, December 21. It will end on January 4, 2024.
“The Federal Government through the Ministry of Transportation will be working with transporters, road transport unions, and Nigerian Railway Corporation to seamlessly deliver on this special presidential initiative.
“From tomorrow, Nigerians wishing to embark on inter-state travel to any part of the country from Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Ibadan, Akure, Maiduguri, Sokoto and other major inter-state transportation hubs will be able to do so at half the cost.”