The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria, says staff of the agency involved in ticket racketeering have been sacked and others demoted.
He stated this on Wednesday before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance while appearing at the 2024–2026 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) interactive session in Abuja.
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Confirming the ticket racketeering by members of staff in the corporation, the NRC boss said that the members of staff involved in the act have been sacked, while some with fewer offences have been demoted.
The chairman of the committee, Rep. James Faleke, had posed a question to the MD, saying, “Social media clips show how your staffers are engaging in ticket racketeering.”
Responding, Okhiria said, “This is true, and the solution to that is e-ticketing, and the government has approved that.”
Meanwhile, the office of the Accountant General for the Federation said the NRC had only remitted N345 million in revenue for 2023, adding that the remittances covered January to September.
Faleke, however, expressed worry about the revenue generated, adding that “our concern is that if we expect so much revenue from NRC and we aren’t getting it, then there is a problem.”
“I think we should take the decision that the railway should self-fund and take care of their costs and remit to the government the surplus,” he said.
