In a recent development, the Abia State Passenger Integrated Manifest and Safety Scheme ASPIMSS) is facing low patronage by commuters due to non-enforcement at motor parks and designated checkpoints. This trend is a major source of internally generated revenue (IGR) loss to the state.
Interestingly, the ASPIMSS is a transportation program initiated by the Abia State government to provide efficient and affordable transportation services to residents and visitors.
As our correspondent inquired into the matter, it was discovered that the ASPIMSS form costs about ₦500 for buses and ₦300 for wagons per trip. This revenue enters the state government coffers, and if not checked and monitored, the state’s IGR will continue to leak.
An ASPIMSS official at the Aba main park who pleaded for anonymity decried that drivers plying the Arochukwu–Ikot-Ekpene road from Aba no longer pick the Abia State manifest form for each trip they take. The drivers claim that the manifest forms are not checked as the ASPIMSS agent at the Ikot-Ekpene checkpoint no longer stays there. Therefore, drivers see it as unnecessary to pick the form and prefer to sort the agents.
Our correspondent interviewed a driver, Chima, who suggested that the management of ASPIMSS should send a monitoring team to ensure that the government manifest is paid for and filled before drivers leave the parks. According to him, the drivers are not to blame for any IGR losses but rather the ASPIMSS officials, whose duty it is to enforce payment and monitoring.
On the other hand, passengers remotely pay for the ASPIMSS but are unaware of such payments as they do not fill any passenger manifest when boarding vehicles for their journey. This makes passenger profiling difficult in the event of road hazards or accidents.
One of the passengers, Mr. Thaddeus Chike, when questioned by our correspondent about his knowledge of the passenger manifest, said that in recent times he has not filled out the manifest on any of his travels. He bemoaned the lack of compensation for passengers when they encounter road mishaps.
