The average fare paid by commuters for road trips surged by an average 8.13 per cent month-on-month (MoM) in January.
This is against the backdrop of hike in petrol price across the country. Commuters have complained of undue hike in transport fares due to recent fuel scarcity.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its Transport Fare Watch for January.
This came as a former Director of Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Olu Obafemi, on Thursday, took a swipe at the Federal Government, on the acclaimed growth of Nigerian economy, saying such assertion could not be substantiated going by the obvious disconnection between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Happiness.
The NBS report stated that, “the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey within the city increased by 7.31 percent (MoM) and 49.69 percent (YoY) to N183.86 in January 2018 from N171.34 in December 2017.
“Likewise, average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity increased by 10.11 percent (MoM) and 32.09 percent (YoY) to N1, 889.69 in January 2018 from N1, 716.26 in December 2017.”
The NBS also noted that, “the average fare paid by commuters for journey by motorcycle per drop increased by 6.97 percent (MoM) and 27.37 percent (YoY) to N120.01 in January 2018 from N112.19 in December 2017.
NBS reports, released couple of days ago, showed that the average price paid by consumers for petrol and diesel rose by an average 7.5 percent month-on-month (MoM) in January.