ExpressDay
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday approved a federal roads and bridges tolling policy, as well as a regulation that will provide legal framework for the tolling policy.
Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, made the disclosure while briefing State House Correspondents, alongside his colleagues in Information, Culture and Tourism, Lai Mohammed, Environment, Mohammad Abubakar and Power, Mamman Sale.
He said one of the highlights of the policy is that an open tolling policy as against a closed tolling policy which Nigerians have been used to, will be adopted.
He explained that the tolling policy which was arrived at after consultation with stakeholders including National Assembly, Office of National Security Advisor, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, which will be helping with the electronic and digital aspect of it, and Road Transport Employers Association (RTEA), the National Association of road transport owners (NARTO) and National Union Road transport workers (NUTRW), will kick off when roads are motorable.
The Minister said that FEC also approved that only dual carriageways of the 35,000 kilometers should be eligible for tolling by the federal government.
The toll collection will be done electronically for the sake of audit and transparency, will be used to maintain roads, to construct new roads as they accrue and also to pay the investors who invest in building or completing a road and then concession it.
Also approved was that certain types of vehicles be exempted from paying tolls. Those are bicycles, pedal cycles, tricycles, motorcycles, and other two or three wheeled transport use mainly by disadvantaged members of the society, as well as diplomatic vehicles and military and paramilitary vehicles.
Fashola said council also approved that those who live around toll Plaza area will enjoy “frequent user discounts”.
The new tolling policy classified vehicles into five categories – cars first category, SUVs and jeeps as second category, private buses and commercial buses as third and fourth categories. And then luxury buses and trucks as a fifth category.
Cars will pay N200, SUVs and Jeeps will pay N300, private buses will pay N300, commercial buses will pay N150, while luxury buses and trucks will pay N500.
