... As Impostors Take Over Operations, Indict Ministry of Transport

The purported Akwa Ibom State transport stakeholders Council and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), have bluntly indicted the Ministry of Transport of initiating and introducing policies that has generated controversies and litigations in the State transport sector.

The stakeholders and the Union made the allegations in a presss release issued to refute and clear the air on the recent media report which highlighted series of misdemeanors and serious lingering crisis currently rocking Akwa Ibom State transport Sector.

The purported Stakeholders have also alleged that when the revenue in the transport sector on road taxes such as emblem and haulage were controlled by the Ministry of Transport, only four Million naira was generated to the Government per annum, stressing that since the job was contracted to the consultant, two hundred million naira has been generated to the State Government per annum.

Our reporter scooped from reliable sources that the Consultant through the instrumentality of the power that be have cajoled the Government and paid the sum of six hundred million nair only for three years to the Board of International Revenue that knows little or nothing about the revenue in the transport sector.

Meanwhile, investigations by our reporter revealed that the two hundred million naira paid by the consultant per annum to take over the revenue in the transport sector is nothing to be compared to the billions of naira the consultant and some cabar and self acclaimed transport stakeholders who brought the consultant have been generating for themselves yearly.
One of the critical Stakeholders who spoke on the ground of anonymity hinted that " the four million naira they claimed in their press release as an amount generated by the Ministry yearly to the Government when the revenue was under the Ministry of transport was only from tricycle tickets alone excluding other road taxes such as Emblems and haulage which the consultant have been generating billions of naira per annum".

The source hinted that there are some multi billion naira companies operating in the State that pays over five hundred million naira each yearly to purchase emblems, stickers and haulage from the consultant for their vehicles to operate freely in the State.

He maintained that "companies like Julius Begger, CCECC, Exoon Mobile, Henseck among others paid billions of naira on road taxes alone to the consultant which the proceeds are always allegedly shared among a particular cartel that are reportedly running the sector in disguise led by Hon. Moriss Edet.

While questioning the term of contraction with the consultant and the Board of Internal Revenue the stakeholder asked " this two hundred million naira they paid to the Government yearly is not up to what one company is paying them. The two hundred million naira they collected from consultant is for which job? Is it for mini bus or tricycle tickets or is it for road taxes"?

The source who insisted that they are the real transport stakeholders whose faces will be made public in no distant time, said there are only five registered trade unions in the transport sector, noting that the real trade unions are Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) federated to control all the motor parks in the country, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) registered to advocate for welfare of drivers, Union of Tippers and Quarry Employers of Nigeria was registered to coordinate the operations of trucks and tippers, Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN) federated to organize all the tricycle owners and operators in the country and Motorcycle Union of Nigeria MUN recognized to organize motorcycle across the federation.

He disclosed that unfortunately, the only union that signed the purported Transport Stakeholders Council's press release was NURTW that connived with the Ministry of Transport to sell RTEAN tickets and share the money which they will definitely account for at the proper time as the matter is still in court.

They challenged the signatories in the purported press release who claimed to be transport stakeholders, stating that Abai Nse Ufia Ekanem, is only a consultant to the State Government and not a stakeholder in the transport sector, Obong Imoh Udom, CEO of Dakkkada Transport Service owns a Park whose membership should be RTEAN and not NURTW since it is the RTEAN that owns parks.

They also noted that the Chairman of National Association of Road Transport Owners NARTO, Comrade Jaffet Akpan, is not supposed to sign the document as a stakeholder since they are not industrial trade union in the transport sector.

The aggrieved Transport Stakeholders further said that the Chairman of Keke Owners and Riders Association, (KORA), Comrade Jeremiah Eseme Jackson, the Chairman of Akwa Ibom Tricycle Association, comrade Tony Michael, the Chairman of Tricycle Owners Foundation Forum (TOFF) Bishop Imoke Afia, are Incorporated trustees that the Ministry of Transport used to form illegal tricycle management committee to oversee Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN) being the only trade union registered under the extant law of trade union act cap T14 with the registration number 0124 legally authorized to organize all the tricycle business across the Country.

They also insisted that Hon. Tony Nya, whom they made an illegal chairman of Motorcycle Management Committee is a brother to the Honourable Commissioner and has nothing to do with the transport stakeholders.

They said Hon. Moriss Edet, who claimed to be Director General, Akwa Ibom State Transport Stakeholders Council does not have anything to do with the sector, and challenged him to show a single motor park owned and managed by him or the union he belong, stressing that even though he belong to a union, he is not an authority since he is not the State chairman of such union.

They Stakeholders who may strick anytime soon therefore made a passionate appeal to Governor Umo Eno, to intervene on the lingering crisis in the transport sector, and direct the Honourable Commissioner for Transport to do the right thing rather than allowing himself to be used by impostors and real enemies of government who are misguiding and advising him wrongly to forestall break down of peace and order in the the State .