Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
The Federal Government has announced that it has concluded plans to re-introduce tolls on major highways across the country.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), while appearing before the Senate Commitee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency on Thursday, said 38 points had been identified in the first phase of the re-introduction.
“Clearly, tolling is coming,” the minister told the lawmakers.
While saying that the new toll gates would be situated at the old spots, Fashola stated that tolls would be collected after the roads had been made motorable.
He said, “We are not going to ask road users to pay toll on a road that is not good. While the construction (of gates) is going on, we are working on the design. We want to standardise the design so that when we ask people to come and bid for the construction, we can control what they are going to construct. They are going to construct with the materials we have prescribed.
“We can also control the price so that nobody is bidding with disparage prices; there will be the floor and the ceiling. Your price will vary according to how many plazas you build and not because you claim to have used ‘foreign’ materials.
“The last part we are working on is the software that drives the management, audit and payment of toll. We want to use the development that has taken place between when the old toll plazas were dismantled and now. There were no GSM and payment platforms as of that time as we have cell phones and cards now. We want to make it very easy for people to go to kiosks and buy toll cards and pay tolls.
“It will also be easy to audit from any of our offices. We will be able to see what is going on, how many people passed, how many vehicles, and we can settle payments to operators in a very transparent and accountable way.”
Members of the committee decried that only N800m had been released to FERMA out of the N25bn voted to the agency in the 2017 budget.
They disclosed that there was a plan to move a motion next week to ask the government to release more funds for road maintenance as the Yuletide season was approaching.
Fashola however said releases to FERMA were suspended as the agency did not have a board for some time.
Fed Govt to reintroduce toll gates in 38 points, says Fashola
Posted By: Onyedi Ojiabor, Abuja
Arrangements have been concluded to reintroduce toll gates in 38 points across the country, Power, Works & Housing Minister Babatunde Fashola said yesterday.
The minister said that the reintroduction of the toll gates by the Federal Government will be consummated after completion of major highways.
The toll gates are to be managed by the private sector, Fashola told members of the Senate Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) when he appeared before them in Abuja yesterday.
He told the lawmakers of plans by the government to design software for the monitoring of vehicles passing through the roads.
According to him, road users would be able to pay toll through their phones, explaining that the toll collected would be used for maintenance of the highways.
He said, “We have concluded plans to reintroduce toll gates across the country and we have finalised the design.
“It will be managed by private sector and it will be located in the old places, 38 point across the country “We are only waiting for the completion of those roads before we introduce the toll gates.
He appealed to the Committee to revise procurement law in order to fast track contract approval by the government.
On budget release to FERMA, Fashola noted that out of N25 billion budget for the agency in the 2017 Budget, only N800 million has so far been released to the agency by the Ministry of Finance.
He admitted that the worst roads are located in the Southsouth and Southeast geopolitical zones, adding that an audit of bad roads showed that some of the roads were built before the 1967-1970 civil war.
The minister, who assured that efforts are on top gear to fix the roads, also said that the N100 billion sourced through the Sukuk Bond, was yet to be released to his ministry to carry out 25 major road constructions in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
He said that FERMA could be more effective and efficient if overhauled and compel to limit its operations to the core mandate of maintaining federal roads.
Fashola said: “FERMA can be the largest construction company in the country. It depends on what we are willing to put into the agency. In the past, FERMA collected monies for roads they did not construct. That has to stop in this government.
“We are working with the Army Corps to see how we can develop local content. FERMA can be biggest construction firm. The unemployment challenges we have can be reduced if FERMA is busy is every state.”
In his remarks, FERMA Committee Chairman Senator Magnus Abe noted that lawmakers, who are the true representatives of the people, are often sidelined by heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) when mulling siting of projects.
Abe said: “As elected representatives of the people, if the Federal Government is doing anything in your areas, our inputs are hardly needed. We will then have to fight for relevance.
“We are meeting you because of the challenges FERMA which is under your supervision is facing. Is this agency relevant in your scheme of things in your ministry? We need you to touch on the core challenges of this agency.”
