The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidel Okhiria, on Wednesday, November 22, disclosed that some of its staff members were engaging in ticket racketeering.
He made the disclosure to the House of Representatives Committee on Finance during while defending its 2024–2026 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) interactive session in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said that staff involved in cases of ticket racketeering have been identified and sacked while some with fewer offences have been demoted.
While responding to a question from the chairman of the committee, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, that Social media clips show how the staffers were engaging in ticket racketeering, Okhiria said, “This is true, and the solution to that is e-ticketing, and the government has approved that.
He said the corporation was working with the security agencies to arrest the menace, adding that many of the staff involved in the dastard act had been sacked, and some had been demoted depending on the offence they committed.
However, the office of the Accountant General for the Federation said the NRC only remitted N345 million in revenue to government coffers 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.”
