Transporters have expressed support for the concession of roads in various parts of the country and have called on the Federal Government to establish a transport development bank.

Speaking under the aegis of Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners on Monday, they stated that the best global practice for road maintenance was through the concession of roads.

The report stated that the concession of the roads might also signify the return of toll gates as concessionaires would have to recoup their investments.

It further stated that the 12 highways combined represented about 1,963km and less than 5.6 per cent of Nigeria’s 35,000km federal highway network.

Commenting on roads concession in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by the Executive Secretary of NARTO, Aloga Ogbogo, the body urged the government to concession some roads so as to attract the required investments on them.

Ogbogo said, “We urge that there should be some level of concession so that the private sector can invest on the roads for better maintenance.”

The NARTO secretary further called on the Federal Government to establish a transport development bank, as the association urged the government to also put in place a transport regulatory body to monitor the operations of the industry.

The association also announced that its Annual General Meeting would hold this month.

Ogbogo said, “We are requesting that just as we have the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture, it should be noted that commerce and industry cannot thrive without transportation.

“We are requesting that a Transport Development Bank should be packaged to assist transporters.”

On the need for a regulatory body, he said, “The road transport sub-sector that is responsible for the movement of close to 90 per cent of goods and passengers in Nigeria does not have a regulatory body. It is an all comers’ affair.”

The association noted that while the Federal Government engaged the services of NARTO to distribute COVID-19 palliatives to other sectors of the economy, nothing of such was extended to transporters.

It therefore urged the government to give the sector some relief materials to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.