Despite a large number of trucks belonging to major manufacturing, agricultural and mining companies, including Lafarge, Olam, Nestle, Dangote, Nigerian Breweries, Sona Group, Unilever, among others, that ply main roads in Ogun state every minute, cases of revenue loss abound and the government is said to be losing about N5 billion monthly.
According to Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun state, the multiplicity of haulage toll points and toll collection are responsible for the loss of revenue from a large number of trucks as many touts feed fat on ticketing and tolling of trucks that ply roads, moving around raw materials and finished goods which do not only account for revenue but also dampens ease of doing business.
Speaking at a policy event held on Monday in Abeokuta on the harmonisation of haulage tolls and levies, decried revenue loss to the perceived illegal collectors and touts who account a large chunk of revenue loss, saying “Ogun state loses 5bn every month to illegal toll collectors and points at the expense of taxpayers.”
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GovernorAmosun however, said that with the harmonization policy, process and procedure of collecting haulage revenue would be streamlined and adequately addressed the lapses and challenges inherent in the unconventional methods, saying the policy would not only block leakages but also safeguard taxpayers from losing their hard-earned money to unbridled illegal toll collectors.
He said, ‘’It is worrisome to us as a government because what we lose every month is from 3bn to 5bn to illegal toll collections and this must stop. It is not sustainable in a State where we require huge amount of money to carry-out people-oriented projects. This is not to take jobs from our youths but provide a more dignified means of livelihood for them and herald system driven policy on revenue collection.”
The Governor said the policy was not to witch-hunt anyone but to ensure taxpayers got value for their money and government was not short-changed by those who had taken advantage of the existing haphazard toll collection method, soliciting the support of all stakeholders in the haulage business including traditional rulers to impress upon their subjects the benefits embedded in the policy.
Also speaking at the event, Adewale Oshinowo, Commissioner for Finance, said 63 toll points had been identified across the state in various locations for the purpose of collecting Haulage revenue on Agriculture produce, Planks, waste products, Scraps among others.
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Oshinowo said as part of measures put in place to end the crude method of haulage revenue collection, a Technical Committee comprising of the officials of the Ministries of Finance, Commerce and Industry, Agriculture, Forestry and Environment was set up to fashion out modern ways of collecting the revenue.
He said with the policy, revenue on Agricultural produce, planks, waste products among others would be paid once at any of the new government-approved points across the state, explaining that the revenue consultants or agents collaborating with the relevant ministries would now buy harmonized tickets from selected banks and pay upfront to government coffers based on the targets or benchmark set for them.
Oshinowo said that ‘’the development will further block revenue leakages and curb illegal toll collection as the new tickets are tamper-proof. Our strategies and basis for the product also include provision of signposts at Toll points, provision of portal cabins at the toll points to accommodate the revenue agents, provision of I.D cards and we have also ensured adequate sensitization of stakeholders and the general public through print and electronic media.’’
RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta
