FCTA urban mass transit buses resume soon – Official

<h2>The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says its urban mass transit buses would resume operations to cushion the effect of hike in transport fare, occasioned by fuel subsidy removal.</h2>, <p>Permanent secretary, FCTA disclosed that the Managing Director of Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company (AUMTCO) was in Lagos over the weekend on the matter and they are working to ensure that all the buses are fixed and back on the road to support the movement of persons in and out of the city.</p>, <span>Mr Olusade Adesola, Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory Administration</span>, <p>The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that transport fare has skyrocketed by more than 100% in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), since the new fuel price regime took off.</p>, <p>During his inaugural speech on May 29, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had announced the removal of fuel subsidy, leading to the increased price of petrol from ₦195 to ₦540 per litre. Barely two months after, the price was further reviewed upward to ₦617 per litre, a development some FCT residents said was taking a heavy toll on them.</p>, <p>Some civil servants particularly groaned that the increase in transport fare was forcing them to spend a larger chunk of their salary on transport. Some residents described the efforts as a “welcome development”, saying it will significantly ameliorate the hash transportation situation in the FCT.</p>, <p>A resident of Nyanya, Mr Paul Nkom, told NAN that he spends more than ₦1,000 daily on transportation from the initial ₦300 to Federal Secretariat and back home.</p>, <p>“This amounted to over N5,000 a week and N20,000 a month from my meagre salary, but I am sure that fare will drastically reduce if we have the urban mass transit buses on the road,” he said.</p>, <p>Another resident, Mr Lawal Haruna, said that she spends ₦1,100 on transportation from Gwarinpa to his office located at Central Area, Abuja and back home, amounting to ₦2,200 every day. Haruna pointed out that he spends ₦11,000 weekly and ₦4