Not less than 1,572,000 Edo citizens have been projected to benefit from the Free Bus Ride Scheme by Edo State Government.

Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, made this known while addressing journalists at the Ministry’s Conference Room, at the State Secretariat along Sapele Road, Benin City.

Nehikhare said from a daily usage of 25,000 passengers, 1,494,000 citizens will benefit from the free intra-city bus ride while 33,000 will benefit from the free inter-city bus ride, bringing the total beneficiaries from the bus palliative to 1, 527,000 within the first few days of the scheme, which was flagged-off on September 11.

The Commissioner said the State Government is still collating data of the poorest of the poor in the State to populate its social register, which is also being revalidated to ensure that no one within the designated bracket is left out of it.

He added that the distribution will be devoid of politics as it will go directly to those captured during the data collection exercise.