Tricycle riders: We didn’t get one CNG-powered keke after supporting Tinubu in 2023

Usman Buba Gwoza, national president of the National Commercial Tricycle and Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association (NATOMORAS), says the All Progressives Congress (APC) has “abandoned” the group despite its crucial role in the 2023 presidential election.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, Gwoza said the association has over 18 million registered members across Nigeria and the federal capital territory (FCT).

He said NATOMORAS members mobilised nationwide for the Tinubu/Shettima ticket, acting as polling agents, grassroots volunteers, and campaigners.

“We were the only association of tricycle and motorcycle riders that publicly declared full support for the Tinubu/Shettima ticket. We gave everything to ensure APC’s victory, and we did it without collecting a single kobo,” he said.

Gwoza said the association’s loyalty earned him an appointment as national director in the APC-created directorate of transport (tricycle and motorcycle) community.

He said the group backed the APC “with all our heart” but has received nothing in return.

According to him, NATOMORAS was promised federal appointments, funding support, and empowerment tricycles for its members.

“We were promised federal appointments. We were promised financing and support for our directorate. Most importantly, we were promised tricycle empowerment to our members,” he said.

Gwoza said that on October 1, 2024, during Nigeria’s 64th independence anniversary, Ayodele Olawande, minister of youth development, announced that 2,000 CNG-powered tricycles had been handed over to NATOMORAS.

He said the announcement was widely reported in the media, but the tricycles have yet to be delivered.

“Till today, not even one keke (tricycle) has been given to our members,” he said.

Gwoza said the group visited the minister, who confirmed the promise and assured them of expedited action.

He also said NATOMORAS was invited by the presidential initiative on CNG (Pi-CNG) to stakeholder meetings in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Ekiti, and Kaduna in May 2024. He said all invitations were signed by Michael Oluwagbemi, CEO of PiCNG.

“We sponsored ourselves and attended all the meetings. We feel used. We feel dumped. We feel betrayed,” Gwoza added.

He described the situation as disheartening, saying the association now finds it difficult to maintain credibility among members and the public.

Gwoza said the group is not begging but demanding what is rightfully owed.

“We are not troublemakers. We are workers, fathers, mothers, breadwinners and hustlers. We believed in this government and gave our all,” he said.

“If this silence continues, we will have no choice than to mobilise our members to peacefully protest nationwide.”

He urged President Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, the vice-president, to honour their “promise” to the group.

“You stood before us and made a vow. Keep it. We have waited long enough. Now is the time for action,” he added.