The Nigeria Democratic Congress governorship candidate in Lagos State, Funso Doherty, has accused successive governments of lacking the political will to address the activities of transport operators popularly known as agberos in the state.
Agberos is a colloquial term for touts, particularly individuals who collect money from commercial bus drivers and transport operators at motor parks, bus stops and along roads, often claiming to act on behalf of transport unions or park authorities.
Doherty said vested interests in the existing public transportation system had made it difficult for the government to reform the sector, despite the challenges posed by the chaotic operation of commercial buses.
He spoke on Sunday during the Lagos Governorship Debate organsided by the Nigeria Debate Consortium, a coalition of five media organisations such as The PUNCH, Channels Television, TVC News, TheCable and Vanguard Newspaper.
He also questioned why the state had yet to modernise its public transportation system despite having thousands of rickety buses operating on its roads.
“Our public transportation system is not modernised. Thousands of rickety buses are moving around. We must ask ourselves: Are these what our people deserve? Why has it taken so long to modernise public transportation?” he asked.
The NDC candidate argued that the situation was not accidental, alleging that some interests benefited from the existing arrangement.
“In my opinion, the lack of a modern transportation system is not by accident. There are vested interests in operating the bus system the way it is,” he said.
Referring to the agbero system, Doherty said the interests surrounding the informal transport network had discouraged efforts to address the problem.
“Many of us understand this notion of the agbero system that people talk about. There is no political will to deal with that problem,” he added.
He maintained that meaningful reform of the transportation sector would require a government willing to prioritise the interests of residents over those benefiting from the existing arrangement.
“We will modernise the transportation system because we will be elected by the people, not by an agbero network,” Doherty said.
