The beneficiaries of the N16 billion Urban Mass Transit Schemes loan that was made possible by the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) monies have been criticized by a committee of the House of Representatives.
The failure of federal mass transit schemes in Nigeria after 1999 is being looked into by the special committee.
Afam Ogene, the chairman of the committee, claimed in a statement on Monday that the majority of those who benefited from government assistance did not pay back the loan.
Recall that once the subsidy programme was partially eliminated, former President Goodluck Jonathan created the SURE-P program.
“A total of 1,179 vehicles were released to the beneficiaries under the scheme, with a repayment plan covering four years. However, according to TIB, many of the beneficiaries defaulted and didn’t repay the loans.
“For instance, records show that as of December 2015, only two of the beneficiaries, ABC Transport PLC and The Young Shall Grow Transport Limited, liquidated their loans. Most of the beneficiaries are yet to pay as stipulated in the contractual agreements signed between them and TIB,” he said.
Mr. Ogene pointed out that the Muhammadu Buhari administration tried to implement various transportation interventions notwithstanding the failure of the previous intervention.
He declared that the committee would look into every prior intervention in the transportation industry.