The Nigeria Labour Congress on Thursday slammed the Nigerian senate over its approval for the reintroduction of toll-gates across the country.
The NLC General Secretary, Peter Ozo-Eson, while reacting to the development in Abuja said that Nigeria’s policy making processes need to be interrogated.
The Senate had on Tuesday passed a motion seeking to resuscitate the collection of tolls on federal highways across the country.
The Upper House argued that toll collection from motorists was the only way to construct and maintain roads and enhance their efficiency.
Ozo-Eson contended that the proposed reintroduction of tolls at this time would be excessively worrisome to all Nigerians as such a policy would further escalate inflation rate.
He argued that the need for revenue generation and the hardship faced by the people should be placed side by side in reaching a decision on the matter.
“To come back again to reintroduce the toll gates means another waste of public resources and this shows that something is fundamentally wrong,” Ozo-Eson said.
“The proposal is questionable, coming at a time when people are facing undue hardship, including high cost of living occasioned by policies of government.”
“Unless we are able to put in place a mechanism that will ensure that the revenues from the tolls are used for the development and maintenance of the roads, any attempt to bring the toll gates will again be a failure.
The NLC secretary also stated that the initial implementation of the toll gates suffered a lot of setbacks, among which is the fact that the nation never benefited from it, as some persons used it to enrich themselves.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo abolished tolls in 2004, on the basis that argued that the revenue for road maintenance should rather be generated from an increased pump price of petrol.