Second Niger bridge | File Image
By Valentine Amanze
The President Bola Tinubu-led federal government of Nigeria has concluded arrangements to toll the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Road, and Makurdi-9th Mile, among others.
Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, who disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday September 26, 2024, explained that all major roads in the country, upon completion of construction and renovation, would be tolled.
“We have the Lagos-Ibadan (Expressway), we are completing it and we are tolling it,” Umahi said at an Inter-Ministerial press briefing, as part of activities to mark Nigeria’s 64th independence anniversary.
The former Ebonyi State governor said that the tolling of federal roads would bring a lot of money to the Federal Government.
Umahi further disclosed that private sector members had been engaged “to bring in funds, construct these roads, work with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Works to toll these roads”.
Also read: Tinubu approves N108b to tackle flood in states
The minister said the government would start with the Keffi-Makurdi Road that has been completed, stressing that his ministry had been engaging with the Ministry of Finance for a paperless mode of payment.
His words: “For example, we are completing the Lagos-Ibadan, we are working on Makurdi to 9th Mile in Enugu State, we are working from Abuja to Lagos. These roads are going to be tolled. But we are not just tolling them, we are bringing confidence in the use of these roads.
“If people can travel at night because we are bringing security, where the response time will be 10 minutes on the entire corridor, where you have solar light permanently there and then reduce travel time, and through the tolling, the roads are maintained, then, there will be confidence because Nigerians will pay if the roads are good.”
He said before now, road developments have not been handled as investments but the administration of President Bola Tinubu has been handling road developments more professionally.
Umahi said that the present administration inherited a total of 300 damaged roads and bridges from the Muhammadu Buhari administration, adding that more road constructions would commence from October 1, 2024, across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
……………
For more interesting stories click: nigerianewsflight.com.ng
