Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has launched 'Lagos Ride', an e-hailing taxi service to rival private companies such as Uber and Bolt.

The governor unveiled the scheme on Thursday, March 4, 2021 when he signed a partnership agreement with CIG Motors Company Limited.

The service will pilot with a fleet of 1,000 units of brand new Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and will fully take off within the next six months.

The Cooperative Society in the Lagos Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment will give operators brand new SUVs for a period of four years, during which they are to pay a monthly installment.

The operators will then have the opportunity to fully own the cars at the end of the credit tenure.

Governor Sanwo-Olu said the service is a social intervention programme initiated with an objective to create jobs and economic opportunities for Lagosians.

He said the service has been structured along a profitability model, and designed to be self-sustaining for expansion and growth.

"A major attribute of a modern megacity is a world-class transportation system with inter-connected services and mobility choices for the citizens. 

"The task of bequeathing a safe, efficient, quick, and modern public transportation system is a key thrust of our administration's development agenda. 

"We are guided by the need for an equitable transportation system with mobility choices for our people," he said.

The Sanwo-Olu government was widely-criticised for crippling ride-hailing bike services with a ban on prominent bike routes last year.

His administration has also in the past initiated controversial regulatory issues affecting the operations of Uber and Bolt in the state.

Lagos signs agreement for assembly plant

Sanwo-Olu on Thursday also formally sealed a Joint Venture Agreement with CIG for the establishment of a Vehicle Assembly Plant in Lagos.

The plant will be jointly-run for the production of different classes of brand new cars in the next 24 months.

The Lagos governor said the plant would revive industrialisation, drive up skilled youth employment and create wealth, boost tourism, and encourage technology sharing, adaptation, and advancement.

"I urge other stakeholders and private investors to collaborate with us to sustain the scheme. We have the political and administrative will to ensure business survives in Lagos," the governor said.

Chairman of CIG Motors Company Limited, Diana Chen, said the company will sponsor 50 students for a two-year engineering training in a vocational school in China to strengthen its partnership with Lagos.

IBILE Holdings Limited, a state-owned corporation, will be driving the two investment agreements on behalf of the Lagos State Government.