The government of Anambra State under Governor Charles Soludo recently approved a new rate for transport sectors in the State.
According to the new rate, Okada operators pay ₦300 daily at ₦7,500 monthly, ₦21,000 with a discount of ₦1,500 for one quarter or ₦40,500 with a discount of ₦4,500 for half a year.
Keke riders pay ₦600 daily at the cost of ₦15,000 monthly, or ₦42,000 with a discount of ₦3,000 for one quarter or, ₦81,000 with a discount of ₦9, 000 for half a year
Shuttle/Buses’ daily pay is ₦1,000 at the rate of ₦25,000 monthly or ₦70,000 with a discount of ₦5,000 for one quarter or ₦135,000 with a discount of ₦15,000 for half a year.
The daily rate for Taxi riders is ₦700 or ₦17,500 for one month. ₦49,000 quarterly with a discount of ₦3,500 while ₦94,500 with a discount of ₦11,000 is for half a year.
The rate of ₦1,200 daily is for Township Bus operators at the cost of ₦30,000 for one month, ₦84,000 with a discount of ₦6,000 for one quarter and ₦162,000 with a discount of ₦18,000 for half a year.
Pick up Van daily fee is ₦1, 000 at the cost of ₦25,000 for one month, ₦70,000 with a discount of ₦5,000 for one quarter and ₦135,000 with a discount of ₦15,000 for half a year.
The new rate was arrived at after a series of meetings and consultations with the union members at Awka. The aim is to bring lasting solutions to problems encountered by members of this sector from touts (agberos) and illegal revenue collectors in the State.
Before Governor Soludo’s intervention, the operators in this sector spent so much on touts and illegal tax collectors leaving the government with peanuts. The amount they paid on daily basis to ‘agberos’ and illegal tax collectors was double the sum to be paid digitally to the government from now.
To put a final stop to this, the government made all government-owned parks free of any charge to all those that were complying with the government directive. Aside from making the parks free of charge, the government further reduced the cost they pay daily and put more money in the hands of the operators. The Government also agreed with the operators to give them 5% of the total collections to be paid to the unions to ensure that no other levies were to be borne by the operators.
The era of multiple levies, roadblocks and personal enrichment by several interest parties has ended.
The Government does not wish to fold its hands and allow the ‘agberos’ and illegal revenue collectors to take over Anambra State.
According to the Chairman/Chief Executive, Anambra State Internal Revenue Service, Mr Richard Nwora Madiebo ‘any levies and taxes to be collected by the government must be done digitally and an electronic receipt which could be verified issued. During the enforcement, it would be done using the electronic sticker’. The sticker, he explained will have a quick response which would be verified using Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD). He said that this way, these acknowledgements cannot be cloned.
No government will wish its citizens to be skinned alive, molested and intimidated by anybody. Everybody was aware of the menace of the touts before now in the State. I do not know if there is anyone who has not seen or had an encounter with the ‘agberos’. I had a nasty experience with them, some years back, he added.
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