Akwa Ibom revenue from tricycle, minibus drivers hits ₦14m weekly

Akwa Ibom State Government says the transport sector has recorded ₦14 million weekly from daily electronic sales of tickets to keke riders and minibus drivers operating within the Uyo metropolis, which has improved the state’s Internally Generated Revenue.

The Commissioner for Transport, Dr Anthony Luke, explained this on Saturday to journalists in Uyo, the state capital, adding that the increase in revenue was one of the achievements of Governor Umo Eno in the transport sector in the last three years.

According to the Commissioner, the ministry sells 100,946 e-tickets to tricycle and minibus drivers at the rate of ₦200 and ₦300, respectively, before 9 am daily.

He said, “Now we record ₦2m daily and receive ₦14m in a week. We have recruited 143 enforcers for sales of the e-tickets to the transport operators. The money is sent straight to government coffers under the present Single Treasury Account. This increases Akwa Ibom Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) daily.”

Luke recalled that the e-ticketing regime has revealed that out of 5,794 keke operators registered with the ministry, many of them were not paying for their daily tickets.

“The Ministry of Transport recorded this success in this administration through e-ticketing, as minibus drivers and Keke operators pay for their tickets electronically.

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“This enables the government to recover money directly from e-ticket sales, and it has helped to improve the state IGR  by 109 per cent. Since we started e-ticketing, we have seen increments in the state’s revenue,” he stated.

Luke disclosed that the electronic sales of tickets were made possible through their collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Digital Economy, headed by Ekpenyong Udo Ekpenyong, who provided the technical support for the success of the state’s new transport ticket regime.

On his part, Ekpenyong, while providing technical details on the mechanism behind electronic sales of tickets in the transport sector, described the success recorded as unprecedented in the state’s history under the Arise Agenda of the governor.

Ekpenyong said cameras have been planted around the Uyo metropolis to monitor activities of tricycle operators and minibus drivers to check their excesses in terms of the security of passengers in Uyo.

“With cameras installed around the city, no keke operator would escape from paying for the ticket.

“Again, crime would be difficult to commit using a tricycle because the camera would trace the rider, and the security posted on the tricycle will provide detailed information that will help security agencies to trace culprits. This is unprecedented in the history of Akwa Ibom, and it is possible under the Arise Agenda of Governor Umo Eno,” he added.