The Senate has passed a motion seeking to reintroduction of toll gates on all federal roads in the country.

Suleiman Nazif, a senator from Bauchi north, sponsored the motion, describing the state of federal roads in Nigeria as a “national shame and embarrassment”.

He said the reintroduction of toll‎ gates would go a long way in rehabilitating the country’s  dilapidated roads, adding that apart from generating revenue, “the presence of toll gates, which are normally managed by armed security agents, provides a level of safety for road users.”

‎Nazif called on the Senate leadership to “constitute an ad-hoc committee to carefully study the toll-gate policy together with other relevant stakeholders on effective and efficient ways to carry out the policy aimed at producing a holistic package to generate adequate funds for road construction and maintenance, and the money realised should be judiciously utilised in order to restore confidence in the masses”.

After a brief debate on the motion, Ike Ekweremadu, deputy senate president, who presided over the session, called for a voice vote, and the senate voted overwhelmingly for it.