Nigerian Railways to begin e-ticketing on Wednesday — Minister
The Minister of Transportation, Mr Said Alkali has said that Nigerian Railways will commence e-ticketing on Wednesday.
Alkali made this known on Monday in Abuja during the flag-off of e-ticketing for Lagos-Ibadan and Itakpe-Warri routes.
According to him, the e-ticketing system will direct ticket sales revenue to the government’s funds.
He added the e-ticketing platform would significantly reduce potential for corruption and revenue leakage.
“It will also help to ensure security of our passengers and avoid racketeering.
“It is the desire of this administration to have zero tolerance for corruption. All these are aimed to benefit our citizens,” he said.
Contributing, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, said the Federal Government had really deepened efforts to ensure the dream of having e-ticketing platforms come to reality.
The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC), has summoned the leadership of the Nigeria Communications Satellite Ltd (NIGCOMSAT), Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRE), and other government agencies to address a significant N20.853 billion audit query.
Other agencies included in this action are the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and three other entities.
The committee, led by Rep. Bamidele Salam, has issued a 72-hour ultimatum for these agencies to appear before it.
The audit queries, totaling N20.853 billion, were raised against these agencies by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
Notable among the summoned agencies are the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and the Federal University of Petroleum Studies in Effurun, Delta State.
Salam emphasised that this decision followed the agencies’ absence during a committee sitting aimed at addressing the audit queries against them.
He also issued a stern warning, stating that this invitation represents the final notice before a warrant of arrest could be issued against the heads of these agencies.
Out of the six invited entities, only the Rural Electrification Agency sent letters to the committee requesting that the Chief Executive Officer be excused from attending the hearing.
Furthermore, the investigation encompassed the scrutiny of cash advances and the proper allocation of funds budgeted by the House for some of these agencies.
Salam declared, “We are going to use our constitutional power to ensure that every kobo spent by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) is prudently utilised.”
The committee members previously expressed their dissatisfaction with the attitude of heads of some government agencies towards parliamentary invitations and called for appropriate sanctionsAjani explained that electronic ticketing for the standard gauge would comfortably curb racketeering that is capable of negatively affecting the economy.
Speaking, the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr Fidet Okhiria, said the e-ticketing system would improve integrity of operations in the sector.
Okhiria expressed optimism that the e-ticketing platform would increase revenue generation of the Federal Government.
According to him, the Federal Government had concessioned the Warri-Itakpe and Lagos–Ibadan routes to “Ticketing Solutions Limited” and “Global Software and Digital Solution” respectively for 10 years.
The two private firms said they would work effectively and efficiently to fulfill mandates to operate the system.
