Juliet Jacob Ochenje
The Presidential Candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has said that most transporters are not aware of President Bola Tinubu’s fifty percent discount on transport fares for Nigerians travelling between December 21, 2023 and January 4, 2024.
Obi disclosed this on his X handle on Friday.
He said, “Following the government’s announcement of a 50% discount on interstate transport fare for Nigerians, I have taken time to inquire into the implementation mechanics across different cities but I have been disappointed.
“Today, I sent out contacts who consulted widely with the transporters in major parks across the country: in Abuja they carried out on the spot investigation in Jabi/Utako areas; in Lagos, they visited major parks like Jibowu, Festac, Mile 12, Ajah, and Mazamaza and none of the transporters in these parks was aware of this 50% discount. At Upper Iweka, Onitsha, which is the main traffic hub in Anambra, and in other parts of the country like Kano, Aba, Kaduna, Owerri, and Gombe, the story is the same.”
This is coming after President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday approved a 50 percent discount in price of interstate transport fare for Nigerians traveling from Thursday, December 21, 2023 to January 4, 2024.
Obi said, “The government failed to put any mechanism in place to ensure accountability and compliance from the companies.
“The government has again announced the few transport companies chosen to participate in the intervention for which 28 routes have been designated. There are no announced forms of checks and balances to ensure that the transporters follow the terms of the contract.
“There are obvious questions on the integrity of this intervention effort. One expects that such a policy that strives to appeal to the broad masses, especially the downtrodden, deliberate and concrete arrangements should be made, with transport companies.”
“I pray that this is not yet another spin to curry favour in the media space after appetizing the people. The Nigerian people are going through untold hardship and the government must not remain insensitive to their sufferings.
“Compassion on the part of government is a good thing, but it should not be an avenue for exploiting the weak structures of government to encourage less than transparent policy implementation,” he added.
