The Federal Government has inaugurated a Project Implementation Committee for the Smart National Transport Databank (SNTDB).
The committee for the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project was raised after its recent approval by the Federal Executive Council.
·SNTDB is spearheaded by the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT).
·The databank aims to address gaps in transport data collection, coordination, and accessibility, while strengthening evidence-based planning and investment across the sector.
·The committee was inaugurated in Abuja by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Funsho Adebiyi.
Adebiyi, in a statement by the ministry, recalled that the SNTDB was approved at the 12th National Council on Transportation in 2012, with the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) mandated to establish the databank under the Ministry’s supervision.
He added that the project received FEC approval for implementation under a 20-year Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) PPP concession to Asia-Arab Investment Nigeria Limited.
The committee, chaired by the Permanent Secretary, is made up of representatives of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, NITT, Federal Road Safety Corps, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Federal Ministry of Works, Office of the National Security Adviser and the Concessionaire, among others.
The committee’s mandate includes overseeing implementation of the project in line with the Concession Agreement, approved Full Business Case and applicable laws; monitoring milestones and performance; coordinating participating MDAs; managing implementation challenges and risks; ensuring financial and governance accountability; and submitting periodic progress reports.
NITT Director-General Bayero Farah described the databank as a national transport intelligence infrastructure designed to support planning, regulation, safety, security, infrastructure development and evidence-based decision-making.
He explained that the key components of the project, including at least 250 solar-powered intelligent gantries equipped with RFID and ANPR technologies, Traffic Management Centres in the 36 States and the FCT, a Main Data Centre, an Electronic Tagging (E-Tag) ecosystem, database integration, real-time analytics and cybersecurity systems, would be implemented in phases.