Saraki: New Bill Won’t Lead to Increase in Fuel Price‎

By Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki at the weekend re-assured Nigerians that the proposed National Road Fund Bill being planned by the Senate will not lead to any increase in the price of fuel.

He also said the Senate would this week discuss a motion on the interest rates being charged by commercial banks on loans to customers, particularly entrepreneurs who need borrowed funds to stay afloat and contribute to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Speaking against the backdrop of the recent wrong interpretations in the media on a recommendation by the Senate Committee on Works on the proposed bill in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, Saraki said: “The report of the Senate committee which worked on the National Road Fund Bill came from deliberations during a pubic hearing in which all stakeholders made different suggestions on how to generate funds for maintenance of the nation’s road network but that there was a consensus on the desirability of the Fund and the need to ensure that the money to be generated from sale of fuel for the fund should be accommodated within the current price regime.

“This is an opportunity to clarify the inaccurate reporting. There is a bill called the National Road Funds Bill. Our roads around the country are not adequately funded. If we are banking on the appropriation process, we will not be able to adequately fund and refurbish our roads.

“Anybody that read the full report would have known that after the public hearing, which involved stakeholders from the road and transport industry, it was recommended that five naira from each litre of petrol should be channelled towards our roads. However, this is not going to be additional five naira, but five naira out of the present price of N145 that Nigerians are currently paying at the pump.”

Details later…