NAAPD, LGAs move against illegal tolls on agro products

The National Association of Agriculture Produce Dealer is forging a strategic partnership with the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas in Lagos State to address the menace of illegal toll fees on food items on the highway and market locations in the city.

The National Secretary of NAAPD, Kingsley Chikezie, made this known at an interactive session of NAAPD in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Head of Department, Agriculture and Social Services in the 57 LGs/LCDAs in Lagos state on implementation of the federal government policy.

The theme of the one-day stakeholders engagement was: ‘Collection of levies and taxes on agro-products and agro allied products on the highways, motor parks, markets: the need of implementation,’ a statement indicated on Thursday.

Chikezie, who lauded the support of the state government in addressing the menace of illegal fees on agriculture produce, said there was an existing collection revenue system in the market, warning illegal toll collectors to leave the roads and come to the market.

He said “Our action is mass-oriented. In the midst of mobility and funding challenges that we face, we want to ensure that nobody goes to the highway to collect tolls on agricultural products but should be at the statutory revenue- based collection of taxes on food.

Also, the Zonal Chairman, South West, Dr Adeyinka Bakare, said Lagos was the biggest market of all agricultural produce in Nigeria and that made it a focal point to discuss on how best to address the rate of illegal fees on farm produce on Nigerian roads.

In his speech, a director in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, who represented the minister, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Mr Paul Ohanachi, corroborated Bakare’s submission that the ministry too had been inundated with all “manner of complaints” from NAAPD members of illegal collections on the highways