The Federal Government of Nigeria has approved the re-introduction of toll gate fees on dual carriageways on some federal roads in the country.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, revealed this on Wednesday, August 11, while briefing the State House correspondents at the end of the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The decision was made almost two decades after the Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration dismantled all toll plazas on federal roads across the country in 2003.
According to Fashola, the ministry of works and Housing, presented a memo which FEC approved to reintroduce tollgates on dual carriageways of 14.3% of 35,000km federal roads.
He said this percentage would be eligible for tolling with vehicles paying between N200 and N500 toll per trip, depending on their brand while diplomatic, military, para-military as well as tricycles and motorcycles would be exempted.
Fashola who maintained that a wide consultation was made before the approval, noted that the toll collected would not only be used to maintain the roads but would also be used to construct new ones while the toll system would be electronically driven for transparency.
He also noted that the tolling system would not commence until the affected roads were motorable and operational agreements negotiated with relevant government agencies.
He said, “So the total network of roads today, assuming we wanted to start today, which we’re not, that will be eligible for tolling on the federal network will be 14.3 per cent of the total network. So, 85.27 per cent will not be eligible for tolling.
“We have seen that most of those dual carriageways also have alternative roads, but they are single carriageways; that’s why we left them. So, the only exception to single carriageway are some bridges and they are listed in the regulation.”
“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.”
