Reps inaugurate committee for review of roads fund bill

The House of Representatives Committee has inaugurated a Technical Committee for the Review of the Roads Fund Bills. This is sequel to the public hearing organised by the House Committee on the National Roads Fund Bill sponsored by Hon. Nicholas Ossai and the Federal Roads Fund Bill sponsored by Hon. Karimi Sunday.

The main objective of the Bills is to establish a Road Fund, which shall be a repository for revenues accruing from road user related charges and other sources for financing the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of Nigeria’s roads.

At the inauguration, the Chairman of the House Committee on Works, Hon. Toby Okechukwu, charged the committee to review all the submissions made at the Public Hearing, research and analyze global best practices and their adaptation to the Nigerian environment, consider the provisions of the Bills and make appropriate recommendations to retain, amend or expunge, where necessary; and make any other recommendations that are necessary for the workability of the Bill when operational. The Technical Committee was given four weeks to complete its assignment.

In his response, the Chairman of the Technical Committee, Engr. Sir Chris Okoye, expressed the immense appreciation of members of the Technical Committee to the House Committee on Works and the entire House of Representatives, for giving them an opportunity to contribute their quota to national development. He assured the House Committee that they would not only carry out the assignment expeditiously, but deliver an outcome that will be at par with global best practices adapted to the Nigerian environment.

The Technical Committee has 29 members and draws its membership from the following federal ministries: Power, Works & Housing, Justice and Finance as well as the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Central Bank of Nigeria, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Federal Roads Safety Corps and Federal Roads Maintenance Agency.