THE House of Representatives is to investigate the disappearance of transit buses provided by the government to ease transportation within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The decision to conduct the investigation followed the adoption of a motion by a member, Ikenna Elezieanya, during plenary on Tuesday.
The motion contained in the Order Paper for Tuesday, April 12, stated that the buses, numbering up to 10,000 are not properly managed by the FCT Administration and as a result are disappearing from roads within the city.
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“All the buses amounting to 10,000 provided by the government are gradually disappearing from the roads and are not being effectively managed by the FCT Administration and as such, not achieving its core objectives which is alleviating the transport challenges of the masses, especially in these trying times,” the motion said.
Elezieanya noted that there was a need to recover the buses and make them functional.
Following the adoption of the motion, the House ordered an investigation into the disappearance of the buses.
The investigation is to be conducted by the House Committee on the FCT.
The committee is to report its findings to the House after three weeks.
Residents of the FCT struggle daily with transport challenges owing to a shortage of commercial vehicles in the city.
The development has placed them at the mercy of private car owners, a situation being exploited by criminal gangs who masquerade as transporters to dispossess passengers of their valuables.
The Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company (AUMTCO) was set up to address the transport situation within the city, but a report by The ICIR revealed how poor planning led to the failure of the scheme.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.