A Chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, has urged the governments both at the Federal and state levels, to stop collecting roadworthiness charges until roads across their jurisdiction are motorable.
Mr Oguntoyinbo made this known while reacting to the state of the roads in the country in a release issued on Sunday, September 24, 2023.
According to the NNPP Chieftain, the current rainy season has exposed most of the Nigerian roads which are impassable.
Oguntoyinbo who restated that the roads are impassable and have been causing damages to vehicles passing them every day, wondered why the government is forcing motorists to pay huge amounts of money as road-worthiness fees, while the roads are bad, and not adequately maintained by the government.
However, he spoke of the penultimate Saturday experience on the Lagos – Badagry Expressway and the Lagos – Abeokuta Expressway, which were flooded and constituted a hindrance to vehicular and human movements after an early downpour.
While appreciating the demand for vehicles to be road-worthy before plying the roads, noting that it was aimed at providing lasting solutions to the historical antecedents of dangers posed by having vehicles that are not road-worthy on the roads, the politician insists that for governments to have the moral right to collect road-worthiness charges, they must also make the roads smooth and well-maintained for the motorists to ply.
“Government must ensure the roads are motorable. The government cannot demand worthiness charges from the vehicle owners whereas it is the bad roads that make motor vehicles not being road worthy.
“It is like vehicle owners are suffering from two ends. The bad roads damage their vehicles and the government also collects fees from them as a way of certifying that their vehicles are road-worthy.
“He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. For the government to collect roadworthiness fees, it must make roads very smooth and motorable,” he said.
