The Federal Government on Wednesday announced the readiness to reintroduce toll collections on some selected “motorable” dual carriageways across the country.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola disclosed this while briefing State House reporters after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the tolling to be reintroduced on dual carriageways would cover only 5,050 kilometres (14.3 percent) out of the total 35,000 kilometres federal roads.
It would be recalled that President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration dismantled all toll on federal roads across the country in 2003.
The minister said the modalities are now being worked out to determine how soon the tolling system will take off.
He said: “The Ministry of Works and Housing presented a policy memorandum for the approval of federal roads, bridges, tolling policy, and also a regulation that will provide a legal framework for the tolling policy. So, we have taken another step. So, let me be clear, tolls are not going to start tomorrow. So, let us be clear about that.
“But the big step to actual tolling was taken today by presenting for approval the broad policy that will guide the tolling so that local people, states, local governments, all those who manage roads, investors who want to come in, will know what our tolling policy is. And that will form the basis of their financial modelling, their investment decision.”
The minister also said the toll collected apart from being used to maintain the roads would also be used to construct new ones while the toll system will be electronically driven for transparency.
“We will also be going through a process of largely electronic toll collection and management system for audit and transparency. We’ll still have some cash at the very many more and hopefully phased that out as we go ahead,” he said.
