Xmas: Abia declares free urban mass transit, set to roll out electric buses

By Steve Oko

Abia State Government has announced free urban mass transit for the Christmas and New Year festive period as the state is set to roll out the first batch of 20-units of electric buses.

Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, who disclosed this at a press conference in Umuahia, said the project would make Abia the first state to launch a state-owned electric bus transport scheme in Nigeria.

Kanu who noted that the first set of 20 units of electric buses arrived in the state since November, hinted that Gov. Alex Otti, would formally launch it before Christmas.

He explained that the buses had been assembled at the International Conference Centre, ICC, premises in Umuahia where a temporary charging station had also been erected.

According to him, the buses which have 400-kikometer operational distance when charged overnight, will be deployed to major routes in the state.

He further said:”The 40 seater-capacity electric buses were specifically built for Abia State. Another set of 20 buses will be received early in the new year.”

He hinted that additional 20 buses would arrive by February 2026, while a total of 100 buses are being targeted.

“The current number of 20 buses will eventually increase to about 100 buses in the first phase of the scheme”.

The Commissioner equally disclosed that Governor Otti had assented to the Abia State Start-up Bill, a legal document which would enable the state establish a framework to foster innovation, develop tech-enabled start-ups.

He further said the Bill would help nurture digital talents and position Abia as a leading tech-hub across the country.

Prince Kanu announced that the graduation ceremony of the second cohort of the Abia Tech-Rise ICT training, where 850 youths would be certified on ICT would take place on Saturday the 20th of December .

He noted that the 850 graduands will bring the total number of youths who have graduated under the scheme to 1,399.

Prince Kanu announced that the Abia state Global Medical Mission commenced today , the 15th of December at five centers across the state. The medical outreach is a collaboration between the Abia state government and Abia Diaspora Medical Personnel . The outreach will be held between the 15th and 20th of December , across five centres in the state, namely the Abia Specialist Hospital Umuahia, Uzuakoli Methodist Hospital, Okoko Item Adult Care Center, Seventh -Day Adventist Diagnostic Center, Ogbor Hill Aba and Ahiaeke medical centre.

Prince Kanu noted that in line with the infrastructural development agenda of the present administration, the state Ministry of Works during the period under review worked on 54 direct labour locations across the state with two of the roads completed while work is ongoing on 32 project sites across the 3 senatorial zones of the state.

He said that the state security agencies have been placed on 24-hours alert to secure lives and property of Abians during and after the Yuletide, calling on Abians to be vigilant and report suspicious movements to the law enforcement agencies.

Contributing, the Commissioner for Transport, Dr Chimezie Ukaegbu said the electric bus for mass transit would be manageable by COSHARIS, a renowned automobile- marketing company, while the Abia State Ministry of Transportation, would supervise

“We are not introducing this to take away businesses from the private people.

“What government is doing is to de-risk the business, reset the pace, and allow private investors or investors to come in” Dr. Ukaegbu stated.

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