WordStage Newsonline– A bill for establishment of National Road Transport Council in Nigeria sponsored by Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Oyelola Ashiru (Kwara South) was rejected at the red chamber plenary on Thursday.
The bill was meant to establish an agency that would be saddled with the responsibility of regulating the road transport and the transportation profession in Nigeria.
The bill failed to scale second reading because of the popular opinion of lawmakers that Nigeria didn’t need additional agency at the moment.
Rather, the senators expressed their willingness to support any legislation that would reduce the numbers of the federal agencies in line with the Steve Oronsanye’s report currently being implemented in the country.
In his contribution to the debate on the Bill, the former leader of the organised labour in the country who is the Senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, Adams Oshiomole, vehemently opposed the bill.
He said, “The police have the traffic division and they do their job so diligently so that if there are roadblocks you will find them trying to manage traffic. If there are accidents they do everything to establish who is wrong, who is right, and prepare to go to court if the party decides to go to court.”
He also said the Federal Road Safety Commission was later established to manege and regulate traffic situation across the country.
Oshiomhole, however expressed regrets that the FRSC had not been performing its responsibility well.
He said, “Thereafter, we set up the Federal Road Safety Commission. I don’t know the experience of my fellow distinguished senators. If you ask me, I do not think even the Road Safety Commission has added value to road transportation, whether it is of promoting safety using the traffic laws.
“I think what we need is to make existing institutions to work. Where they fail to work, we evoke sanction. Just recently, I had a conversation with a fellow senator in these chambers.
“I think this House must be seen to act in a manner that is in tune with those broad policy statements that we have accepted, namely to avoid multiplication of agencies that have duplicated functions.
“Why Nigeria is committed to cutting federal government excessive overhead expenditure, more agencies should not be created,
“I think many of us have reservations about the incompetence of the Nigeria Road Safety Commission, which is my view, that they are incompetent, they are not adding value, and yet they are doing so much for public treasury.
“Let us, in line with the core spirit of cutting down costs, to meet other more challenging expenses. We don’t need to create agencies for everything.”
Other senators who contributed and opposed the bill are, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan; and Victor Umeh, among others.
