The Abuja–Kaduna railway was supposed to offer Nigerians a safer, more affordable and more reliable alternative to road travel. Yet fresh allegations of ticket racketeering suggest that passengers may still be confronting a parallel market in which access to a public transport service allegedly depends on who they know—and how much extra they can afford to pay.
Passengers have complained that tickets officially priced at ₦3,600 are being offered for as much as ₦7,000 through unofficial channels, even when the Nigerian Railway Corporation’s booking platform reportedly indicates that seats are sold out. The latest allegations, reported on October 15, 2026, have renewed questions about the effectiveness of the corporation’s ticketing system and the possibility of abuse by intermediaries.
The difference is not insignificant. A passenger paying ₦7,000 instead of ₦3,600 spends an additional ₦3,400 for the same journey. That is a markup of approximately 94 per cent over the official fare.
For a worker, student, trader or family travelling between Abuja and Kaduna, the extra charge is not merely an inconvenience. It is an unofficial financial burden imposed on people who may have chosen the train precisely because they cannot afford more expensive alternatives.
When the official system says no, but the parallel market says yes
The most troubling question is straightforward: how can tickets become unavailable through the official booking platform while intermediaries allegedly continue offering them at almost twice the approved price?
There are several possible explanations, including limited seating capacity, intense demand, technical problems, unauthorised bulk purchases or the diversion of tickets into unofficial resale channels. The allegations alone do not establish which explanation applies in each case. However, the repeated nature of passenger complaints makes the problem worthy of an independent investigation.
In February 2026, passengers on the same route reported similar experiences. One traveller, Solomon Abiona, told journalists that he had been unable to secure tickets online and was subsequently referred to an intermediary who allegedly offered tickets for ₦6,000 each instead of the official ₦3,600 fare. He also alleged that tickets were issued in names other than those of the passengers who had paid for them.
An earlier investigation by HumAngle also documented alleged back-channel ticket sales involving intermediaries and railway personnel. Its reporting described passengers being offered tickets outside the official process after failing to obtain them through the regular booking system.
These reports do not prove that every unavailable ticket has been diverted or that every railway employee is involved. They do, however, suggest that the latest complaints cannot simply be dismissed as an isolated misunderstanding.
Electronic ticketing is not enough without accountability
The NRC introduced electronic ticketing on the Abuja–Kaduna corridor to improve transparency and make it more difficult to manipulate ticket sales. In principle, a digital platform should allow the corporation to track seat availability, identify the person who purchased each ticket, record payments and establish whether a seat was legitimately allocated.
But digitisation alone does not eliminate corruption. A digital platform can still be undermined if access controls are weak, identity verification is circumvented, tickets are improperly allocated or staff and outside intermediaries can operate around the official process.
The real test of an electronic ticketing system is not whether a website exists. It is whether the system can account for every seat, every payment and every passenger who boards a train.
If tickets are genuinely sold out, the corporation should be able to demonstrate that the available seats have been allocated and paid for through authorised channels. If seats are available through intermediaries after the official system declares them unavailable, the NRC should investigate how those tickets were obtained.
The corporation's published passenger-service rules state that passengers must hold valid tickets and that each ticket has an allocated seat number. That makes it reasonable to ask how the corporation verifies ticket ownership and prevents unauthorised transfers or boarding arrangements.
The hidden cost of a public-service failure
Ticket racketeering, if confirmed, creates a system in which passengers face two different prices: the official fare advertised by the government-owned railway and the higher amount allegedly demanded by unofficial sellers.
The consequences extend beyond the money lost by individual travellers.
First, the practice undermines public confidence. Passengers who repeatedly fail to book through official channels may stop trusting the platform and turn to intermediaries instead. That can normalise unofficial payments and make the parallel market more difficult to dismantle.
Second, it raises questions about revenue. Where tickets are sold outside authorised procedures, investigators should establish whether the correct fare reaches the corporation, whether additional charges are authorised and who ultimately receives the extra money.
Third, it creates opportunities for abuse of passenger identities. If people are travelling on tickets issued in other names, as some passengers have alleged in earlier reports, the NRC must determine whether identity checks are being bypassed and whether this creates additional security risks.
Finally, it penalises passengers who follow the rules. Someone who tries to book legitimately should not have to pay nearly twice the official fare simply because another person has better connections to a ticket seller.
What should the Nigerian Railway Corporation do?
The NRC should respond with verifiable information rather than general assurances that it is addressing the problem.
It should publish clear details about the number of seats available on each service, the timing of ticket releases and the official channels through which tickets can be purchased. Where practical, passengers should be able to see when tickets become available and whether a train is genuinely fully booked.
The corporation should also conduct an independent audit of ticket allocation and boarding records on the Abuja–Kaduna route. Investigators should compare the number of seats offered, the tickets sold through authorised channels, the identities attached to those tickets, the payments received and the number of passengers admitted onto each train.
Where evidence points to misconduct, the corporation should refer the matter to the appropriate anti-corruption and law-enforcement authorities. Any disciplinary action should follow a fair investigation, with responsibility established through evidence rather than assumption.
Passengers should also have an accessible way to report demands for unofficial payments, supported by ticket records, payment receipts and other relevant evidence. Complaints should be investigated and outcomes communicated publicly.
Most importantly, the corporation should explain what safeguards prevent tickets from being bought or allocated improperly and what happens when staff or external agents are found to have violated those safeguards.
Nigerians should not have to pay a connection fee to access public transport
The Abuja–Kaduna railway serves a corridor where road travel has been a source of serious security concern. For many passengers, the train is not simply another transport option; it is a practical alternative to a road journey they may consider dangerous.
That makes reliable access to railway tickets particularly important. A public transport system cannot fulfil its purpose if passengers are routinely left uncertain about whether they can obtain tickets at the advertised price.
The latest allegations must be investigated carefully. A report of ticket resale does not, by itself, establish that NRC management authorised it or that every case involves an employee. But neither should repeated allegations be allowed to disappear without answers.
The fundamental question is whether the official ticketing system is distributing seats fairly—or whether an unofficial market has developed in which access to those seats can be bought at a premium.
The NRC owes passengers a transparent explanation, an independent investigation and evidence that its ticketing controls work.
A railway ticket should be allocated according to availability and the official fare, not according to personal connections or the ability to pay an alleged middleman almost twice the price.
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