A chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party, (NNPP), Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, Sunday, asked governments at both the federal and state levels to stop collecting road worthiness charges until they make roads under their control motorable.
The NNPP chieftain in a statement on the condition of roads in major cities in the country, declared that the roads were impassable and have been causing damages to vehicles on daily basis.
According to him, there was no basis for government to be forcing motorists to cough out huge sums of money as road worthiness fee, while in actual fact the roads were terribly bad and were not adequately maintained by governments.
He stressed that the current rainy season had exposed most of the Nigerian roads which he said were impassable.
He added that his penultimate Saturday experience on the Lagos – Badagry and the Lagos – Abeokuta expressways all in Lagos was a recent one during which the roads were flooded and constituted hindrance to vehicular and human movements after early downpour.
Appreciating the demand for vehicles to be road worthy before plying the roads was aimed at providing lasting solutions to the historical antecedents of dangers posed by having vehicles that are not road worthy, he insisted that for governments to have moral right to collect road worthiness charges, it must make the roads smooth and well maintained.
“Government must ensure the roads are motorable. Government cannot be demanding road worthiness charges from the vehicle owners whereas it is the bad roads that makes motor vehicles not being road worthy”, he said.
Ambassador Ajadi added, “It is like vehicle owners are suffering from two ends. The bad roads damage their vehicles and government also collect 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 government to collect road worthiness fees, it must make roads very smooth and motorable”.
