ONICCIMA urges govt to delay tollgates reintroduction

Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ONICCIMA) has advised the government to delay the reintroduction of tollgates across the country to 2024, arguing that it would worsen the disposable income of the citizenry.

In a release signed by its President, Sir Chris Ukachukwu, mentioned that the reintroduction of tollgates would result in another hike in transport fares and further accelerate the country’s already high inflation rate.

He said the delay will allow the government to complete the critical road projects, especially in the Southeast, adding that roads in the region such as Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, the Onitsha-Owerri highway, the 2nd Niger Bridge, etc., are all in either unimaginable state of disrepair or are still under construction.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) recently approved the Federal Roads and Bridges Tolling Policy, ending the long-held speculation that the Federal Government has been contemplating the reintroduction of toll gates on federal highways nationwide.

ONICCIMA argued that many motorists have discovered alternate routes through the villages and hinterlands which will render this policy ineffectual.

“It is clearly the right of governments world over to raise taxes and revenues through diverse legal sources to facilitate its ability to build infrastructure and generally improve on social service delivery.

“However, Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture believes that there are many pertinent issues surrounding the return of tolling on our expressways and bridges that require immediate consideration before the implementation of that policy,” he said.

Sir Ukachukwu noted that in the previous era of tolling, citizens severally complained of the difficulty to trace the impact of these monies so collected on road infrastructure, adding that the dilapidation continued even with all the funds collected. Is there any guarantee that this reintroduction will be impactful?

“Also, the issue of diverse toll collection by touts and agents of various state and local governments along Federal highways is causing untold hardships on commuters. With the re-introduction of the toll gates, the Federal Government should first do all within its powers to dislodge these touts and state and local government agents from their collections as this amount to multiple taxations.

“In addition, the government must ensure that the various contractors who shall operate the tolls work under strictly laid down guidelines and standardized procedures that are applicable across the board. This will go a long way in checkmating corruption, intimidation and acrimony usually witnessed at toll gates.” He said.