Arising from furor from Nigerians over the additional taxes that will be due from the proposed Federal Roads Funds Bill, the bill has been ‘stepped down for further legislative action’. The bill which was to finance the development of road infrastructure in the country required Nigerian road users to pay at least 7 new taxes, most controversial of all being a N5 fuel levy.
The bill, which had been in the making for some time was sponsored alongside the Federal Roads Authority bill by Senator Kabiru Gaya representing Kano South who is also Chairman, Senate Committee on Works. Unlike its associate, the Federal Roads Authority had no problems scaling the final reading with initial concerns about who occupies the office of Director of Works overlooked.
The inability of the Roads Funds Bill to scale final reading was majorly over the fuel tax that would be introduced. According to the sponsor, the new tax could be deducted from the existing template of N145 per litre of fuel, thus preventing Nigerians from paying extra but at the same time generate N94 billion annually for road development.
However, Senator Kabiru Marafa representing Zamfara Central, refuted the proposal saying it is not entirely correct that the proposed N5 fuel levy is captured in the industry template and that its introduction would on add pressure on an already stressed petroleum downstream sector and cause hardship for the people.
