After the exposition by the media on the interference and usurpation of duties of transport unions in Ogun State, which we gathered has been causing disaffections among the members of the unions, the 13-man Governor Dapo Abiodun's Committee on Transportation led by Barrister Sunday Olufemi Adeniyi has come out to deny any wrongdoing, maintaining that it had nothing to do with the activities of the unions since they were suspended by the government in June this year.
In an unsigned press statement replete with inconsistencies and attempt to mislead members of the public, the Dapo Abiodun's Transport Committee stated that ".......no transport union has been allowed to sell the union tickets, they were only selling the state Internal Revenue Service tickets as mandated by His Excellency, the Governor of the state, Dapo Abiodun."
A source however told us that it had been found out that the committee members had been "churning out barefaced lies and deliberately misleading Governor Dapo Abiodun," adding that all the supposedly suspended unions had been selling their union tickets since June, 2019, when the committee was inaugurated.
The transport unions in Ogun State include National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TROAN) and Three Wheelers Owners And Riders Association (TWORA).
Others are Amalgamated Commercial Tricycle And Motorcycle Owners, Repairs and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACCOMORAN) and Articulated Motorcycle And Riders Association of Nigeria (AMORAN).
In the cause of our investigations, we laid our hands on some of the tickets being sold by the unions to members.
Some of the tickets were issued out few days ago.
The tickets cut across five of the unions namely; ACCOMORAN dated 8th October with N100 price tag, TORAN dated 4th October with no price tag, NURTW dated 25th September sold for N100 and AMORAN dated 4th October and sold for N100.
We gathered that the unions collected both the government and unions tickets from the Transport Committee and make remittances to the committee based on certain agreements.
"The lies in the press statement by the Transport Committee has shown that they had been deceiving Governor Dapo Abiodun.
"As I am talking to you, all the unions are still selling their union tickets across the state under the supervision of the Transport Committee except the NURTW.
"If they could deny this, then there is a need for the Governor to let the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigate their activities and make them account for all the monies generated by all the members for their unions.
"I can smell a huge fraud and racketeering going on among the Dapo Abiodun's Transport Committee and this should not be waved aside by the authorities," a concerned highly placed member of one of the unions told our reporter.
The Barrister Sunday Adeniyi also stated in the "face saving" press statement that ".......to coordinate the sales of tickets across the 20 Local Government areas, the Transport Committee appointed the sales agents, who are experienced. Alhaji Akeem Bodunrin, also known as Iyeru was chosen from the NURTW. He is responsible for the sales and remittance of the monies realised into the Government's Bank Accounts."
Our source pointed out that from the above quotes in the press statement issued on Tuesday October 8, 2019, people were made to believe that Alhaji Akeem Bodunrin (Iyeru) has been acting as agent for the government in selling only the government tickets.
The source however said that members of the public must be made to know that Iyeru was actually appointed as the NURTW sole agent on 30th September, 2019 through a letter signed by the Secretary of the Transport Committee, Tunji Akinosi.
"So, who has been collecting the monies for the Transport Committee since June, 2019 that it started its work.
"Iyeru was made the sole agent through a letter dated 30th September. They should tell us who had been collecting the monies from June till that 30th of September.
"Another question for the Transport Committee is that they should tell us who are the agents for the five other transport unions in the state; RTEAN, ACCOMORAN, TORAN, TWORA and AMORAN," our source stated.
"You see, these Transport Committee members are inept and they don't even know how to cover their tracks.
"They can't just sit down there and be deceiving Governor Dapo Abiodun and think they can hoodwink the entire people of Ogun State for their selfish and personal aggrandizement.
"I will implore Governor Dapo Abiodun and the EFCC to beam their searchlight on the members of the Transport Committee," the highly placed source added.
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