THE Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved tolls for vehicles plying federal roads in Nigeria.
Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media Tolu Ogunlesi, in a statement, said Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola disclosed the development after Wednesday’s FEC meeting in Abuja.
The statement read that cars were to pay N200, Suvs: N300, private buses: N300, commercial buses: N150, luxury buses and trucks: N500.
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Fashola said the policy was approved after extensive consultations with various stakeholders within and outside the government, including transport unions such as NURTW, NARTO, RTEAN.
“Also, a Willingness-To-Pay Survey was carried out, to arrive at the recommended pricing framework. The fees at existing tolled roads (Lagos and Abuja Airport Toll Plazas, and the Lekki and Ikoyi Toll Plazas) were also taken into consideration,” the statement read.
On the payment and commencement modalities, Fashola said it would be an open tolling system where owners would pay a fixed/flat rate that was not dependent on distance travelled.
He also said that only 5,050km dual carriageways owned by the Federal Government would be eligible for tolling, and the only exceptions would be some bridges listed in the policy.
“The following will be exempted from Tolling: Bicycles, Tricycles, Motorcycles, Diplomatic vehicles, Military and Paramilitary vehicles,” the statement further read.
The minister said the revenue generated from the tolls would be used to maintain the roads and repay investors who had invested in building or completing a road under the Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI).
Fashola also noted that electronic toll collection and management systems would be prioritised over cash systems.
However, the minister said the toll payment would not start immediately but ‘until the roads are motorable.’
“This policy is a necessary condition for the implementation of Tolling, and it is now for people to start getting familiar with it and for relevant stakeholders to start using it as a basis for their financial modeling and investment analysis, ahead of the eventual rollout of Toll Plazas,” the statement read.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94