The Niger State Governor, Umaru Bago, worried by the deplorable road condition across the country, has called for a return of the tollgate regime.

According to governor Bago, this would ensure the enforcement of weight limits to avoid overloading and damaging of highways in the country.

He made the call when he visited the Director General of the Bureau for Public Procurement, Mamman Ahmadu, in his office in Abuja, where he noted with dismay the continuous damage of roads by those involved in overloading trucks and articulated vehicles.

The Governor said, the fees should be paid by road users for yearly maintenance of the roads, emphasizing that he would present the issue to the leadership of the National Economic Council.

Additionally, Bago also said he would personally inform NEC to consider having a National Policy on weighbridges considering the unregulated volume of content plying the roads in the country.

“Nigeria must resume the regime of toll-gating; we cannot continue as a country to fix roads and the people who are into overloading will continue to damage our roads. So, people should pay money for using road infrastructures so that the proceeds can be used to maintain the roads year in and year out.

“Again, we will take it up with the National Executive Council leadership. I will also personally inform NEC on the need to have a national policy on weighbridge,” he asserted.

Governor Bago revealed that the Niger State would partner the BPP in terms of providing a roadmap and training of procurement officers in the state to understand that transparent and efficient procurement practices are crucial for the growth and development of the state.

The BPP DG in his remarks complained of the poor state of road infrastructures in the state, especially the federal roads despite the state having the largest landmass in the country and more spread of federal roads.

Also he assured the governor of his continued support to bring about the needed infrastructural development in Niger State, he called on the governor to introduce a weighbridge to ensure proper regulation of the weight of goods carried by heavy-duty vehicles and ensure good road maintenance in the state.