AHEAD of the inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, on Monday, May 29, the cost of flight tickets from Lagos to Abuja has doubled, checks by The ICIR on Saturday, May 27, showed.
Usually, the average cost of flight tickets on the route is about N50,000, but operators vary prices according to seat demand by the passengers.
The President-elect is a former governor of Lagos state, so many of his relations, friends, loyalists and supporters are expected to be part of his inauguration in Abuja on Monday, May 29.
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As of 5:30pm on Saturday, The ICIR checked six local airline operators flying the Lagos-Abuja route for Lagos to Abuja flights for Sunday, May 28, and found out ticket prices ranged between N93,000 and N110,000 for the economy seat.
Air Peace was N95,300, United Nigeria Airline was N110,000, Ibom Air N96,000, Aero N93,571, Dana, N94,000, and Arik N109,167.
Travelling by air from Lagos to Abuja is about 55 minutes, while the journey between the two cities by road takes about 12 hours.
Nigerians with the means to travel by air would promptly do so because of abductions and accidents that are rife on the nation’s highways.
Besides, the regular hold-up on the 133-kilometre Lagos-Ibadan highway could take several hours to scale through.
The ICIR reports that the Lagos-Ibadan road is just a fraction of the 753-kilometre Lagos-Abuja road.
The road is expected to be bustling at the weekend, as many people from Lagos, other South-West states and their contemporaries from other regions in the South would be trooping to the nation’s capital for the inauguration.
Reports reaching this organisation show that most hotels in Abuja are already booked for the inauguration, which will have many leaders within Africa and outside the continent in attendance.
The ICIR reports that the President-elect takes over from President Muhammadu Buhari, who completes his two terms of four years apiece on Monday.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org
The price is too higher