The governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Lagos State, Funso Doherty, has accused the state government of lacking the political will to eliminate street touts popularly known as agbero.
Doherty made the allegation on Sunday during a governorship debate in Lagos, where he blamed vested interests for slowing efforts to modernise the state’s public transportation system.
He said Lagos continued to depend on thousands of poorly maintained buses despite the need for a more efficient and modern transport network.
The NDC candidate questioned why successive administrations had taken so long to reform public transportation, arguing that residents deserved better services.
He maintained that the continued operation of small buses was supported by a network of vested interests.
“Our public transportation system is not modernised. Thousands of rickety buses are moving around,” he said.
“We must ask ourselves: are these what our people deserve? Why has it taken so long to modernise public transportation?”
Doherty identified the agbero system as one of the major challenges affecting the state’s transport sector.
“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,” the governorship candidate said.
“Many small buses are chaoticatically operated because there is an ecosystem around it.
“Many of us understand this notion of the agbero system that people talk about. There is no political will to deal with that problem.”