"NRC Not Rejecting Electronic Transfer" -Mahmood

By, Zakari Isah, Kaduna 

Due to the temporary commercial transaction challenges occasioned by the naira notes redesign policy, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is appealing to passengers for their understanding of the online ticketing system which is yet to commence at Ibadan and Warri-Itakpe Train Services.

NRC in a statement signed by the Deputy Director of Public Relations of the corporation, Yakub Mahmood explained that for now it "only accepts physical cash across – the -- counter for train boarding with the Naira Notes approved as Legal Tender by the government".

"As we are all aware of the currency policy, introduced by the Federal Government, which redesigned some denominations of Naira Notes that are being gradually swapped with the old Naira notes, pending when the transition from old to new will be completed".

Mahmood however, appealed to the passengers, especially Lagos – Ibadan Train Service (L.I.T.S) and Warri -- Itakpe Train Service (W.I.T.S) routes to bear with the temporary setbacks.

"NRC is therefore appealing to our esteemed passengers, especially along LITS and WITS routes to bear with us, especially during these temporary commercial transaction challenges, as we are bracing up to deploy the online train ticketing system on LITS and WITS routes soon, with the far-reaching arrangement being concluded for the hitch-free deployment of the technology".

Meanwhile, "we appreciate your patronage and absolute patience before we finally migrate to the online electronic passengers’ train ticketing system in our entire train operations/services".

The statement denied the news trending on social and mainstream media platforms, claiming that NRC does not accept electronic transfer and old Naira Notes, describing it as untrue but accepting only Naira Notes approved as Legal Tender by the government.