By Seyi Babalola
The Federal Government is perfecting plans to eliminate multiple taxation in the transportation sector, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr Magdalene Ajani, has said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the just concluded two-day National Transportation Technology Conference and Exhibitions (NTTCE), by the forum of Transportation Commissioners in Nigeria, Ajani said the removal will help reduce the cost of transport business, adding that it is a bane to the development of the sector
Addressing the conference’s sub-theme: Intergovernmental co-operation between federal and sub-nationals in seamless policy, regulation and tax regimes: The role of natural gas expansion programme, Mrs Ajani said streamlining the various taxation in the sector is necessary to enhance its growth and development.
She said it is high time the hydra headed unregulated multiple taxation in the sector be dealt with as it is inimical to business sustenance.
She said the law that governed the transportation sector apportioned roles for the federal, state and local governments.
Ajani said: “What we find happening is that there are multiple road stickers being sold by different group of people to road users.
”So, this tends to increase the cost of doing business on road transportation and this must be regulated.
“So, those purporting that the Federal Ministry of Transportation gave them approval to collect money on its behalf are not correct,” Ajani said.
Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, commended the efforts of the Federal Government in addressing multiple taxation in the sector.
Oladeinde said that the development would help the state governments in their transport policies.
He said that technology was the way forward in driving the sector to make it more efficient and effective.
“We have deployed a lot of technology in Lagos, we are talking about the Cowry card for fare payment and this is going to be integrated on all our modes of transportation.
“We are looking at integrating timetable of mode of transport to cut down waiting time,” he said.
The Lagos State Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Corp Commander, Olusegun Ogungbemide, said the corps had been using technology to improve their mode of operation.
He said technology has helped in reducing response time to crash scene and electronic ticketing in issuance of tickets for traffic offenders.
Ogungbemide said that the corps would continue to ensure that the roads are safe and crash free.
The Secretary of Nigeria Transportation Commissioners’ Forum, Mrs Chinwe Uwaegbute, said the conference had brought all the key stakeholders in the transportation sector together to drive the industry forward.
She said: “The conference brought out many issues such as challenges of double taxation, need for interconnectivity for all modes of transportation for ease of doing business.
The outcome of this conference would chart a course for a better growth and development of this sector.
“The Federal Ministry of Transportation is also part of this conference and we are hopeful that the points raised here will be used to generate policies that will aid growth in the sector.”
