In a bid to boost the nation’s revenue profile, the Senate has advised the Federal Government to re-introduce toll gates on all Federal roads.
The Senate want the tollgates restored not just to boost income for the country, but also to generate more revenue for road maintenance. They further argued that the tollgate scheme was in tandem with globally accepted best practice. The Red Chamber took the decision after the adoption of recommendations of its Ad hoc Committee on Works, which investigated the total collapse of federal roads in Nigeria and prevalent gully erosion sites.
They further advised the Muhammadu Buhari administration to introduce weighbridges to protect roads and to discourage overtaxing highways that were not constructed for ferrying heavy vehicles and trucks. The committee further recommended that there should be rehabilitation and constant maintenance of existing roads infrastructure.
It might interest you to know that in 2004, a senate committee headed by Senator Barnabas Gamade ( still serving of the floor of the senate) recommended had recommended to the Obasanjo’s administration the dismantling of tollgates on all Federal roads because of poor maintenance and poor revenue. did that committee judiciously carry out its duties, or why is there a turn-around on such recommendation.
