The bill was thrown out because there are already existing federal and state agencies working to keep the roads safe.
The Senate has thrown out a bill seeking to establish a national road transport council to be saddled with the responsibility of regulating the road transport industry and the transport profession in Nigeria.
The bill was thrown out after a debate led by the chief whip of the senate, Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North) during Thursday’s plenary.
Monguno who stood in for the sponsor of the bill, Senator Oyelola Ashiru (APC, Kwara South), noted that over 80 million Nigerians use road transport daily with approximately 55 million in urban areas and 25 million in rural regions.
“This massive scale underscores the critical nature of this sector to our national development,” he said.
He lamented over the current state of the road transport system which, according to him, is a result of lack of coordination, low professionalism amongst others, thereby prompting the need for the establishment of the council that will be tasked with key responsibilities that will address the issues of urban and rural road users.
He said; “The issues amongst others include lack of comprehensive policy framework, inadequate insurance coverage, poor regulation and oversight, lack of coordination, disorderly infrastructure, low professionalism, urban rural disparity and lack of legal platform to coordination.”
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He said the bill would provide for a mandatory insurance scheme for all road users, stressing that the council would cover transport unions such as the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).
He said further that “the road transport sector is too important to be left in its current state of disarray. The establishment of this council will provide a robust institutional and regulatory framework to address the current challenges bedevilling our road transport industry.”
In his contributions, senate minority leader, Senator Osita Ngwu (PDP, Enugu West) noted that the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) recorded 74 deaths in April 2024, due to the lack of policy and coordination in the sector. “At the same spot 26 deaths were recorded last 2 months.” He urged for the urgent consideration and eventual passage of the bill.
On his part, Senator Victor Umeh, (LP, Anambra Central) said there is no need for the creation of a new council to formulate policies for road usage because there are already existing federal and state agencies working to keep the roads safe.
“I don’t know what this council will do. Once we pass this bill, we will go into another bureaucracy,” Umeh said.
The bill was thereafter rejected after it was put to a voice vote by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
