The Abia state government has taken delivery of 20 more electric buses out of the about 100 it planed to procure to enable it operate statewide and even beyond.
The state Governor who announced this Thursday night during his July monthly interaction with Journalists in Umuahia, the state capital, said that these latest delivery of the 20 electric buses, would be deployed to operate more routes across the state at subsidized tariffs/fares.
The Buses had commenced operation on some routes since 2026 at fares about 60% less than the fares charged by commercial vehicles.
But to qualify to board the buses, the members of the public are to fulfill some pre-conditions that include registration as government statutory Levy Payers.
The governor listed some tentative new routes the new buses will be deployed to as: Umuahia – Bende – Arochukwu, Umuahia – Uturu (the state University town ), Umuahia – Umudike – Ikwuano, Aba-Owerri ( in Imo State), and Aba to Ukwa, among others.
The governor said that surveillance systems have been installed in the buses to monitor drivers and improve accountability, reporting that one Bus Pilot and his Co-Pilot who were found to have engaged in some illegal activities were disengaged from service; hence, he warned others against indulging in similar tempting activities.
On the building of the Aba Bus Terminal similar to the one at Umuahia, which was named Nnenna Oti, the immediate former Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Governor Otti told the journalists that the ongoing work was progressing steadily and that the first phase of the modelling of the Aba Ekeoha Market will be completed and commissioned soon.
