The price of premium motor spirit and automotive gas oil may increase as the Federal Ministry of Works and House of Representatives push for the implementation and remittances of a 5 percent road user charge to be factored into fuel and diesel prices.
This was disclosed at an investigative hearing of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Monday in Abuja.
According to the Minister of State for Works, Mohammed Goroyo, there is an urgent need for the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to implement the 5 percent road user charge collection to address the funding deficit for the country’s maintenance of federal roads.
He noted that Nigeria needs N800 billion annually for road maintenance, but the budget allocated to the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency had fallen short.
“FERMA requires an estimated N880bn annually for optimal road conditions. Budgetary allocations have consistently fallen short—N76.3bn in 2023 and N103.3bn in 2024, while N168.9bn was budgeted for 2025.
“The consequences of this are glaring—deteriorating road conditions, increased repair costs, and prolonged disruptions for commuters and businesses alike.
“Thus, the diligent implementation and timely remittance of the five percent user charge are paramount,” he said.
On his part, Managing Director of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, Chukwuemeka Abbasi disclosed that the template for deducting the road user charge from the prices of petrol and diesel was never implemented by NMDPRA.
He explained that “the five percent user charge, as enshrined in the FERMA Act, was designed to serve as a sustainable funding mechanism for road maintenance and rehabilitation. However, for years, FERMA has grappled with severe funding inadequacies, hampering its ability to maintain our vast road network effectively.”
Earlier, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas recalled that the House had on 19th March considered a motion at plenary revealing the non-implementation of remittance of the five percent user charge on petroleum products meant for road maintenance under the FERMA Amendment Act, 2007.
The chairman of the committee, who doubles as the chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Francis Waive, clarified that the 5 percent road user charge is not an attempt to increase the prices of petroleum products or to amend the law since it has been part of the law since 2007.
He noted that the purpose of the investigation was to address the anomalies existing through disobedience to existing laws, adding that the House will ensure that every law passed by the parliament is complied with both by individuals and agencies of government.
The development comes as Nigerians in the past weeks witnessed a drop in the prices of petrol.
Recently, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited retail outlets, Dangote Refinery, and its partners had slashed their retail prices of PMS to N875 and N895 per litre in Lagos and Abuja.
