Debate: ‘Agbero interests holding back Lagos public transport’ – NDC’s Doherty

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Funso Doherty, has accused vested interests within the state’s informal transport network of frustrating efforts to modernise public transportation. Doherty made the remarks during the Lagos governorship debate in Lagos on Friday organised by the Nigeria Debate Consortium comprising Channels Television, TVC News, The PUNCH, TheCable and Vanguard, where he criticised the continued reliance on ageing commercial buses and the influence of the agbero system in the state’s transport sector.

He questioned why successive administrations had failed to modernise public transportation despite the thousands of rickety buses operating across Lagos. “Our public transportation system is not modernised. Thousands of rickety buses are moving around. We must ask ourselves: are these what our people deserve? Why has it taken so long to modernise public transportation?” he asked.

The NDC candidate argued that the failure to reform the system was not accidental, alleging that powerful interests benefited from the existing arrangement. “In my opinion, the lack of modern transportation is not by accident. There are vested interests in operating the bus system the way it is. Many of us understand the agbero system; there is an ecosystem around it, and there is no political will to deal with that problem,” he said.

Doherty, who promised to overhaul the state’s public transportation system if elected, said his administration would not be beholden to informal transport networks. “We would modernise public transportation because we would be elected by the people and not by the agbero network,” he added.