Toll Gates: Stop Imposing More Hardship on Nigerians, PDP Tells APC

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) describes the contemplations by the 
All Progressives Congress (APC) and its government to impose more 
hardship on Nigerians, through the re-introduction of toll gates on 
major highways, as a downright act of wickedness against the suffering 
masses.

Our party, after an extensive consideration, insists that the move to 
return the toll gates to allow APC interests to further fleece already 
impoverished Nigerians, is offensive, vexatious, inflammatory and as 
such should not be contemplated under any guise whatsoever.

The party invites Nigerians to recall that the PDP administration 
dismantled the toll gates 18 years ago in order to ease the burden on 
the people as well as end the corrupt regime of operators.

The PDP therefore completely rejects the return of toll gates, as it 
will add more economic burden on the people, lead to hike in transport 
fares, increase in the prices of goods and services as well as provide 
safe haven for corrupt APC leaders to extort money from innocent 
Nigerians.

APC’s decision to impose levies on the highway, even after it had 
increased the pump price of fuel to an extortionate N165 per liter, 
further confirms that APC is a heartless party that is out to fleece and 
impose hardship on the people to benefit its leaders.

The PDP observes that with the huge financial resources at the disposal 
of the APC, its government does not have any justification to impose an 
extra road tax, particularly in the face of the reckless and unbridled 
looting of national revenue by its leaders.

This is especially as the APC and its administration have not been able 
to account for the over N1.4tr allocated for works in addition to over 
N120 billion collected from Nigerians as motor vehicle license in the 
last six years.

Moreover, the Buhari Presidency has not taken any step to recover the 
over N25 trillion reportedly stolen by APC leaders in various revenue 
generating agencies including the NNPC, NEMA, NPA, FIRS, NIMASA, NDDC, 
NHIS among others, where culprits are merely “eased out” instead of 
being prosecuted.

Our party maintains that Nigerians would not have been facing such 
exacerbated suffering but for APC’s corruption, incompetence, lethargic 
approach to governance and failure to adopt strategic way to harness and 
develop our abundant resources to the benefit of the citizens.

The PDP therefore cautions APC leaders not to further push Nigerians to 
the wall by trying to fleece them with all manners of taxes and levies, 
having realized they and their fizzling party will soon have no place in 
governance, come May, 2023.

Signed:

Kola Ologbondiyan
National Publicity Secretary