By Suleiman Anyalewechi
The Abia State authorities have explained that its decision to reverse the daily toll collection regime for Tricycle operators and others to a weekly exercise is to block leakages in revenue collection, and boost the internally generated revenue profile of the State.
Chief Uche Wogu, the Coordinator of Abia State Harmonized Task Force ASHTF ,Aba Division, noted that the reversal policy was jointly consented to by state Government officials and the leadership of the Tricycle Operators in the state
The State Government’s position, comes on the heels of a spate protest marches by tricycle operators resisting the decision of the authorities to be tolling them weekly, instead of the subsisting daily payments.
The protest marches which began in Umuahia and Aba last week ,continued early Tuesday ,May 7 2024 ,with irate tricyclists blocking the Aba South Council Headquarters and Bata axis of the ever busy Aba/Owerri Road in Aba .
“Look, the problem is that ,before now ,we Keke ( tricycle operators) used to pay a toll of #350 daily to the Government of Abia state .
But now they have changed it from daily payments to weekly. They are telling us that we should be paying #2,100 weekly, instead of the daily payments of N350 .
The position of majority of us ,is that the weekly payments arrangement is putting to much pressure on us because of the situation in the country. It is to easier for us paying that N350 daily, than this weekly exercise.
All we are saying is that it is more convenient for us to be paying daily than to be paying weekly .But the Government does not want to listen to us .” one of the tricycle operators told the Source.
But speaking with the Source in an interview with this Newsmagazine on Tuesday in Aba , Chief Wogu ,who is also the Mayor of Aba South ,insisted that all relevant stakeholders ,including the leadership of the tricycle operators were carried along in arriving at the weekly payments arrangement.
“Yes, tricycle operators used to pay daily. But the problem has been the tendency for most of them to evade payments through some sharp practices,and the situation has been impacting negatively on the internally generated revenue profile of the state.
What most of them used to do is to come out early in the morning, before Government revenue collectors will commence activities, operate for some hours and disappear.
They will then re appear in the evening ,when they believe that the revenue collectors would have closed for the day. Through this means, and other unwholesome ways , most of the tricyclists continued to cause huge revenue losses to the state Government .
It was at this juncture that we decided to call for meetings with the leadership of the tricycle (keke) operators ,to discuss on the way forward. After series of meetings ,we agreed to migrate from daily to weekly payment for tricycle operators.
The decision was arrived at ,together with their leadership and we have even issued them with identity cards as stakeholders in the collection process of the new toll/rent regime.
And for emphasis ,we are driven in this new policy thrust by our sincere quest to block leakages and shore up the internally generated revenue IGR of the state in the interest of all Abians . And we are optimistic ,that all not,just the tricycle operators would appreciate ,and support the Government in its determination to change the narrative of the state.” the ASHTF Coordinator noted.
