The Kogi State House of Assembly adhoc committee on transport has asked the kogi State Ministry of Transportation and the office of the Kogi State Security Adviser to arrest the ugly trend of harassment, abitrary arrest and outrageous fines been perpetrated by officials of the Kogi state transport management agency, KOTRAMA and the Taskforce on the Use of the Mega Terminal.
Chairman of the committee and Deputy Speaker Kogi state House Of Assembly, Alfa Momoh Rabiu gave the directive at an investigative hearing on the unpleasant activities of the taskforce on the use of the Mega Terminal and KOTRAMA in Lokoja.
He said KOTRAMA was acting outside it’s law as no law was ever made by the assembly to suppress those it should be safeguarding.
Chairman of the adhoc committee, stressed that the mode of operation of the staff of the agency and that of the taskforce were not interndem with the law that birth KOTRAMA hence the need for the assembly to address the abnormalities as the assembly was also inundated by plethora of petitions on the activities of KOTRAMA and the taskforce.
A member of the committee and member representing Omala state constituency, Prince Hilarion Collins Musa, alleged that motorists were billed outside the prescribed fines in the KOTRAMA law and fines payed into private accounts rather than government account.
He said there was need to train the staff of KOTRAMA on their functions.
Another member of the committee and member representing Olamaboro state constituency, Bobby Alewo Ujah said the activities of KOTRAMA and that of the taskforce were constituting nuisance to motorists and tarnishing and portraying the state in bad light to travellers passing through the state.
Responding to some of the allegations the state security Adviser to the Governor, Retired Commodore Jerry Omodara, said his office only provided security component to the taskforce saying his office had nothing to do with revenue collection.
Commodore Omodara who said the taskforce had achieved to some extent in enforcing the use of the mega terminal by travellers rather than stand by the road side to board vehicles but decried that more than eighty percent of the revenue generated in the mega terminal does not go to the store government.
He appreciated the assembly for the observation raised on the activities of the taskforce and KOTRAMA promising to address the concerns raised.
On his part the state Commissioner for Transport, Baron Okoli, who disassociated his ministry from the mega terminal said the Mega Terminal I as fully privatized.
He also said that no staff of his or that of KOTRAMA was empowered to collect fines as the ministry does not run any revenue account.