Federal Government has said it would re-introduce the tolling of roads in the country.

The move, according to the Federal Ministry of Works, is in the effort to seek out new methods to attract investments and to improve on the maintenance culture on the nation’s highway.

Minister of State for Works, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, disclosed this while delivering a keynote address during the Federal Roads and Bridges Tolling Policy Consultation Forum held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Yuguda noted that the high cost of constructing roads and bridges, had traditionally paced the obligation on government to finance the investments, despite funding limits.

Yuguda said: “It is through these that the Federal Ministry of Works is making effort to create an efficient and effective road transport system and to seek out new methods to attract extra investments and this is where tolling will be crucial”.

Yuguda further said substantial benefits could be derived from tolling, noting that while there were some examples of failed toll road projects globally, including in Nigeria, the principles and procedures that underline successful toll road operation were presently well known.

He added that Nigeria had the advantage of referring to the experience of other countries, applying lessons learnt and following good practice in successfully building, managing and maintaining such roads.

He added: “Tolling provides a solution to meeting some of Nigeria’s critical deficit in rods and bridges”.

Yuguda noted that not all roads and bridges are viable propositions for tolling, saying most of Nigerian roads, especially subsidiary roads with low traffic volumes, will continue to be managed and funded by the Federal Government, as well as state governments and local authorities.

He gave assurance that the Federal Ministry of Works was already embarking on a programme to attract investment by increasing the role of the private sector in the management, maintenance and upgrade of the federal roads and bridges network through Public Private Partnerships (PPP).

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