REMOVAL OF SUBSIDY GAINS IN OUR TRANSPORT SECTOR UNDER THE RENEWED HOPE AGENDA
Woye Adeyemi
8/28/20262 min read
Abuja Metro is still free — and that has become one of the most visible, everyday reliefs for many FCT residents.
What began in May 2024 as a short-term gesture has stretched far beyond the original timetable. FCT Minister Nyesom Wike first announced two months of free rides when commercial operations of the Abuja Rail Mass Transit (Abuja Light Rail / Metro Line) resumed. President Bola Tinubu then extended the waiver to the end of 2024. More than two years later, the trains are still running without fares. Commuters who would otherwise spend thousands of naira daily on buses and taxis after fuel subsidy removal have treated the rail as a genuine cost-saving alternative.
The route that actually works today
Phase 1 covers about 45 km and 12 stations on two connected lines. Passengers change at Idu, the interchange.
• City-centre / Airport corridor (often called the Yellow Line / Lot 1): Abuja Metro Station (Central Area) → Stadium → Kukwaba I → Kukwaba II → Wupa → Idu → Bassanjiwa → Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
• Kubwa / satellite-town corridor (Blue Line / Lot 3): Idu → Gwagwa → Dei-Dei → Kagini → Gbazango (serving the wider Kubwa axis).
Trains currently make a limited number of weekday trips (typically four per line: morning and afternoon slots).
The full planned network of six lots remains unfinished, so large parts of the FCT (Nyanya, Karu, Kuje, Gwagwalada, etc.) are still not on the rail. Even so, the existing stretch already links high-density residential areas with the Central Business District and the airport.
Why it matters
The free service has cut daily transport costs sharply for regular users. One commuter from Kubwa who works at the airport estimated saving about ₦4,000 a day compared with commercial road transport. That is the practical payoff of public-transport investment: lower household spending, less pressure on already congested roads, and a cheaper, more predictable option than sitting in traffic. Crowding, limited frequency, and questions about how long the subsidy can last are real issues, but they have not cancelled the relief many residents feel.
In short, the “temporary” free-ride policy of 2024 has become an ongoing feature of daily life on the Abuja Metro. For people living along the Kubwa–Idu–Central–Airport corridor, it is one of the few tangible, everyday benefits of the rail project so far.
Writer ✍️- Woye _Adeyemi ( Co-CONVENER , TINUBUNEWMEDIA)