•Dues Should Be Harmonised — Transporters

A sneak preview of what may play out in the days ahead presented itself during a briefing to announce the introduction of the N800 daily Consolidated Informal Transport Sector Levy (CITSL), by the Lagos State government.

The state Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, who spoke on behalf of the government, informed that the introduction of the harmonised levy would prevent transport unions from collecting levies from commercial buses, tricycles and motorcycles at the different bus stop, as these operators would henceforth pay once a day from their take-off points.

But Olowo had barely dropped anchor when the state Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Mr. Musiliu Akinsanya, said that even though the unions were in support of the harmonisation of the levies, they would continue to collect their dues at the different locations the way that they have been doing.

These remarks jolted many that were present at the session, as they wondered the level of consultation that was done between the different stakeholders before the decision to come up with the consolidated levy was finalised.

Even though Akinsanya did not emphatically say whether the fee collection would align with the state’s new position, which frowns at collecting levies at bus stops, the state government was equally aghast by the remarks but restrained itself from joining issues with the NURTW chieftain.

He, however, claimed that the levy was arrived at after engagements with all stakeholders, whom he said were in support of it.

Going down memory lane, Fayinka said that the 1999 Constitution authorised local councils to generate revenue through the sale of tickets to transporters at various motor parks and garages, just as it empowered transport unions to collect dues.

“Local councils and LCDAs are independent entities and can issue tickets to generate revenue. In Lagos, Mushin Local Council shares boundaries with Oshodi-Isolo and Surulere local councils, and if a transporter loads at Mushin, the council representative will issue a ticket to the driver. When he gets to Oshodi-Isolo, another ticket would be given to him. While heading to Ojuelegba in Surulere, another ticket would be given to the driver. If the driver proceeds to Lagos Island from Ojuelegba, the driver would be issued yet another by the Lagos Island representative. The driver would be issued five tickets. If it is N200 per council, it means that the driver would have paid a total of N1, 000 for tickets daily.

“This is alongside the levy for refuse disposal collected by the headship of the parks, just as the law allows for the collection of environmental pollution levy for vehicles emission. And at each of these locations, four to six people stand on the road to collect money for different lawful agencies. So, the council chairmen were told about harmonising the payment through the issuance of just a ticket and proceeds from the single tickets shared among the councils and the MDAs.”

Fayinka implored residents and all stakeholders to be optimistic because it was an initiative that has not been experimented with before, and the government should be supported to make it work.

“We initiated it, but unfortunately the people that are not stakeholders, people that are not in the transport sector are the ones that are crying more than the bereaved,” he stated.

He noted that while the state can ban the activities of the unions in the various parks and garages, it cannot collect dues on behalf of the unions because “if we collect the dues for the unions, we would be violating the law.”