President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, declared a seven-month free train ride for passengers, as he performed the presidential flag-off of commercial operation of phase 1 of the Abuja light rail service, also known as Abuja Metro Rail till December.
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, had earlier announced free train rides for two months, to ease the burden of commuting for residents of the FCT.
However, the President appealed for an extension to offer hope to the people of the FCT to enable the residents to celebrate the new administration.
“Our dear landlord and his team, I heard you saying two months’ free ride. I appeal to you to make it till the end of the year. Since today, you’re not going to charge me, that will give the people hope and reasons to celebrate,” Tinubu said.
Recall that the contract for the project was awarded by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in 2007 and had a trial operation from September 2018 to March 2020 after completion.
It, however, suffered hiccups as the COVID-19 pandemic affected the trial operation, coupled with massive vandalism of key components, which resulted in the ARMT system not being operational since 2020.
