Ebun Francis
The Nigerian senate on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to restore toll gates on all federal roads across the country. The bill for the re introduction of tolls on Nigerian roads was sponsored by Senator Suleman Nazif, representing Bauchi North, Senatorial district. The senator while introducing the bill expressed dismay over the state of roads in the country, saying they had become a “national shame and embarrassment”. The re-establishment of toll gates would according to him solve “the nation’s generally dilapidated road networks”.
“Besides revenue generation, the presence of toll gates, which are normally managed by armed security agents, provides a level of safety for road users,” he said.
Nazif, therefore, urged the upper house to “constitute an ad-hoc committee to carefully study the toll-gate policy together with other relevant stakeholders on effective and efficient ways to carry out the policy aimed at producing a holistic package to generate adequate funds for road construction and maintenance, and the money realised should be judiciously utilised in order to restore confidence in the masses”.
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, deputy senate president, who presided over the session, called for a voice vote, and the bill was passed.
