Nigerian commuters now pay an average of N1,195.75 for a single city bus trip, 26.71 per cent more than the N943.68 they paid in February 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics disclosed in its latest transport fare watch. The February 2026 figure is also 0.74 per cent above January's N1,186.98, as fuel price spikes linked to Middle-East tensions and domestic adjustments filter through to passengers.
Inter-city travellers are not spared: the average fare rose 6.13 per cent year-on-year to N8,108.81, although it dipped 4.65 per cent from January. Air passengers paid N153,647.95 for a single journey, up 21.38 per cent on the year and 1.51 per cent on the month, while Okada riders now part with N920.95—53.26 per cent more than a year ago. Waterway transport averaged N2,097.30, a 31.66 per cent annual jump.
Lagos leads city-bus pain at N1,537.09 per drop; Abia posts the lowest at N699.17. Abia also tops inter-city charges at N9,490.95, with Kwara the cheapest at N6,190.50. Kano's air travellers pay the most (N187,742.40) and Gombe the least (N131,290.00).
The NBS numbers show Lagosians now shell out N1,537 for a single bus ride—more than double what commuters in Abia pay—yet both cities buy petrol from the same marketers. That N838 gap is not geography; it is a quiet transfer of living costs from the state's hollowed-out transport subsidy to the commuter's pocket.
Behind the 26 per cent city-bus spike lies a simple equation: petrol prices rise, Lagos danfo unions hold the city hostage, and regulators look away. The same playbook pushed Okada fares up 53 per cent in twelve months, turning motorcycle taxis from a poor-man's fix to a luxury. Meanwhile, Abuia keeps signing off on "pricing adjustments" that never adjust wages.
For the average Lagos commuter earning the state's N30,000 minimum wage, today's fare eats half a day's pay before the bus leaves the garage. In Abia, where salaries arrive months late, the cheapest fare still means choosing between one more trip or one more meal. The silent redistribution is complete: fuel subsidy is gone, mobility is shrinking, and household budgets are the new shock absorber.
This is the third straight year transport inflation has outpaced general inflation; expect more trekking, more car-pooling and, soon, another round of fare negotiations that drivers always win.
