Abia Electric Buses Launch: Okonjo-Iweala Hails Otti’s Game-Changing Green Move
By: Abudu Olalekan
Umuahia was electric that Monday – literally.
December 22, 2025. International Conference Centre. Twenty shiny new electric buses lined up like they knew they were about to make history. And right there in the middle of it all, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO big boss and proud daughter of the soil, couldn’t stop smiling.
She called it “bold”. She called it “forward-looking”. Honestly? She was beaming like a mum watching her child score the winning goal.
“Africa only contributes about 3% of global emissions,” she said, voice steady but eyes sparkling, “but we must still do our part. Abia just showed the whole continent how it’s done.”
You could feel the pride in the air. Thick. Real.
Governor Alex Otti stood tall in his trademark cap, trying to play it cool, but even he couldn’t hide the grin. This wasn’t just another project launch. This was him keeping a promise most people thought was impossible.
Remember when everyone was hyped about CNG buses? Cleaner than petrol, sure. But Otti said nah. “If we’re doing this, we’re going all the way.” Electric or nothing.
And now here they were. Twenty proper electric buses. Not prototypes. Not promises. Actual buses. PWD-compliant. Air-conditioned. With cameras inside so nobody acts stupid. Charging ports for phones. The kind of small details that make you realize someone actually thought this through.
Coscharis boss, Dr Cosmos Maduka, almost laughed when he remembered how it started.
“I brought CNG proposal,” he said, shaking his head. “Otti looked at me like I insulted his mother. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Electric. Non-negotiable.’”
Maduka still can’t believe it happened. “Abia just became the first state in Nigeria to run proper electric public buses. First. Let that sink in.”
The governor himself was brutally honest, the way people like him sometimes are.
“We’re starting small,” he admitted. “Maybe not all 20 will roll out tomorrow. But you’ll see them. You’ll ride them. We’ll learn as we go. No be heaven we dey promise, but we’re getting there.”
He talked about the nightmare with the charging stations – ship accident, delays, headaches. But they improvised. Umuahia stations are working. Aba is next. Ohafia too. Gradually, steadily.
From Tuesday till January? Free rides. Completely free. Just to let people feel am, get used to it.
“These buses go 400-450km on one charge,” Otti said, almost casually. Like it’s normal to say that in Nigeria. “And yes, we just became the state with the cheapest public transport in the country. We’re not stopping.”
Commissioner for Transport, Chimezie Ukaegbu, kept calling it “historic”. He wasn’t exaggerating.
You could see it on people’s faces during the test ride around Umuahia. Old women touching the seats like they couldn’t believe it was real. Young guys taking selfies. One man actually shouted “Otti na man you be!” from the window.
This one small launch in Abia might just be the spark Nigeria needs.
Because if Abia – yes, the same Abia we all wrote off not too long ago – can pull this off, then what’s anyone else’s excuse?
Okonjo-Iweala said it best before she left:
“This is just the beginning.”
She’s right.
And for once, it actually feels like it.
