…as multiple levies erase profits
For some tricycle drivers in Lagos, the introduction of cheaper Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) has brought down the cost of fuelling their vehicles but the relief from lower fuel expenditure does not necessarily mean an easier working life.
Behind the fuel savings is another set of pressures: the cost of acquiring the vehicle through hire purchase and the payments drivers make to operate across different parts of Lagos.
For drivers working under hire-purchase arrangements, the money saved on fuel still has to compete with the amount they are expected to remit to the vehicle owner.
This is the concern raised by a keke driver, Mr. Ambode, who says the benefit of cheaper fuel is being undermined by the financial obligations attached to operating the vehicle.
Ambode said drivers operating under hire purchase could have their financial targets increased even when their fuel costs fall.
He gave an example of a weekly payment increasing from ₦15,000 to ₦20,000 after the driver switched to CNG.
He also said he personally remits about ₦125,000 every week under his arrangement.
For him, the question is not simply whether CNG is cheaper than petrol, it is whether a driver who saves money on fuel is actually allowed to keep enough of that saving to improve his livelihood.
Ambode’s concern extends beyond the vehicle itself.
He also complained about what he described as multiple ticket payments required when keke operators move between different local government areas.
According to him, a driver working in one part of Lagos may encounter additional ticket demands when moving into another local government area.
He argued that the practice adds another financial burden to drivers who are already trying to meet their vehicle payments and daily operating costs.
His plea is for the government to introduce a system under which a keke driver pays one ticket for the day, rather than facing separate payments as the driver moves between areas.
The proposal, if adopted, would address a part of the transport economy that is often less visible to passengers, he said.
A passenger sees the fare paid for a journey.
The driver sees the costs accumulated before that journey becomes income.
There is the cost of fuel, the payment to the vehicle owner where the keke is under hire purchase, maintenance, and other daily expenses.
For drivers moving across different areas, there may also be transport-related levies.
This means that a reduction in fuel expenditure does not automatically translate into a corresponding improvement in the driver’s disposable income.
The issue also raises a broader question about how the benefits of cheaper energy should be distributed.
The Federal Government’s push for CNG is partly built around reducing transportation costs. President Bola Tinubu has said savings from cheaper energy should reach citizens through lower fares.
However, affordability is not determined by fuel alone. For a driver who does not own the vehicle outright, the amount left after fuel and vehicle payments can be considerably different from the headline saving at the CNG pump.
Ambode’s argument is therefore less about opposing CNG than about what happens to the savings after the driver has bought the cheaper fuel.
His appeal is for the financial pressures around vehicle ownership and daily operation to be addressed alongside efforts to make fuel cheaper.
He also wants the government to look at the way tickets are collected across Lagos, arguing that a driver should not have to repeatedly pay simply because his work takes him across different local government areas.
The concerns require broader engagement with keke owners, transport associations, and the relevant Lagos authorities to establish how widespread the reported hire-purchase increases and multiple ticket payments are.
The issue raised by the driver points to a question, when a policy reduces one cost for low-income transport workers, what happens to the money they save?
If the saving is absorbed by another obligation, the driver may continue to work under the same financial pressure despite spending less on fuel.
For keke drivers like Ambode, therefore, the call is not only for cheaper fuel or more CNG stations.
It is for the savings to translate into an actual improvement in the conditions under which they earn a living.
His plea is simple: reduce the burden attached to vehicle ownership and make the ticketing system less costly and complicated, so that drivers can retain more of what they earn.