Gov Abiodun to give free electric bikes to Okada riders in Ogun

 In an attempt to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal on commercial motorcyclists known as okada riders, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has said his administration would give electric bikes to riders in the state.

Abiodun spoke on Monday when he received participants of the Senior Executive Course 45, Group 1 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, who came on a courtesy call in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

According to a statement shared by Emmanuel Ojo, one of his media aides, Abiodun said: “I am proud to say that in Ogun State, we have put in measures and plans to begin an energy transition plan. We are going to start converting all our state buses to run on CNG (compressed natural gas). That programme has already commenced. We are actually going to launch what we call our E-Mobility and Gas Mobility Programme sometime around the end of this month or the first week in August.

“Gas mobility is that in which we convert not just our buses to operate on gas, but all mass transit will begin to operate on gas, and our E-mobility is a programme that will make all our motorcycles and tricycles run on electricity. They will be battery-powered. We are going to launch that programme either the last week of this month or the first week of next month.

“We will take the motorcycles from the riders and give them electric-powered motorcycles. This programme will have a cushion effect on what our masses are currently experiencing, and besides that, it will begin a new phase of the dispensation of clean energy, which speaks to the issue of climate change.”

Abiodun added that his administration would take advantage of the newly signed electricity bill by establishing a company that would generate and distribute power in Ogun, adding that he would also focus on the provision of potable water.