As many states struggle to generate revenue, Agberos in Lagos state generate N123 billion yearly in Nigeria, more cash than 35 states in Nigeria generate yearly, according to a research by International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR).
Excluding Lagos which generated N418.9 billion in 2020, this amount is bigger than the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) any state generated last year.
Rivers, the oil-rich State had the second highest IGR after Lagos in 2020 but the N117.19 billion it generated was N5.89 billion less than what agberos collect yearly.
At N92 billion, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) generated the third largest IGR among the states in 2020, N31 billion lower than Lagos agberos’ collections.
‘Agbero’ is an informal word used to describe a person, usually a thug, who collects rates, fees, tolls and other forms of tax around motor packs.
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They are non-state actors although they are recognised by the state government. They belong to the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN).
How Agberos generate N123 billion yearly
According to an estimate by Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), there are 75,000 commercial buses in Lagos (danfos).
Each driver of these buses pays at least N3000 to agberos every day, according to oral testimonies obtained by ICIR from more than 50 commercial bus drivers in 21 out of 37 local council development authorities (LCDAs) in Lagos.
This implies that the drivers pay N225 million daily, N6.75 billion monthly and N82.1 yearly to agberos in Lagos.
There are at least 50,000 tricycles (keke Marwas) in Lagos, according to a 2020 report by Techcabal. According to ICIR, tricycle drivers pay at least N1,800 to these agberos daily.
This means that agberos generate about N90 million daily, N2.7 billion monthly and N32.1 billion yearly.
Despite the Lagos State government motorcycle (Okada) ban, the ICIR obtained information from the Motorcycle Operators’ Association of Lagos State (MOALS) that there are about 1000 motorcycles in each 37 LCDA in Lagos state.
This means there are 37,000 commercial motorcycle drivers in Lagos who pay N600 to agberos daily, according to ICIR. That means agberos collect N22.2 million daily, N666 million monthly and about N8.1 billion yearly from motorcycle drivers alone.
For all the three categories of commercial transporters, agberos receive N123.7 billion yearly, this figure excludes taxis, tankers and trailers, as there is no relevant data on these categories.
Lagos agberos operate through “pits” which is another name for motor parks. Each pit has a chairman who oversees all the money collected in the park and park areas.
ICIR reports that the chairman takes a huge chunk of the money, shares the rest to his subordinates and leaves little in the account operated by his union.
Revenues may end up in private pockets
According to the investigation by ICIR, there is no record of the funds going to the Lagos state account as there are several pointers that it ends up in private pockets.
These funds go into the hands of private individuals while infrastructures in the state rot. For instance, there are several roads in Lagos that are in a dilapidated state and over 20 million residents spend hours in traffic.
