President Bola Tinubu has directed the commencement of palliative projects on dilapidated federal roadsnationwide before 1 December 2023.
A statement from the Minister of Works, Nweze David Umahi, said the palliative work will be on the sections frequently complained about by the public in all parts of Nigeria.
The statement said that Mr. President has isolated the frequently complained roads and directed immediate actions on them and that work has started on all such roads.
The statement encouraged the public to crosscheck the government’s claims and report back to the Federal Minister of Works.
According to the statement, signed by the minister, the Federal Ministry of Works is concerned about the deplorable state of some federal roads as reported on traditional media platforms and social media.
“Most of the sections of the roads frequently reported but definitely not exhaustive are: the Makurdi-Nsukka 9th Mile Road, East-West Road, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Benin Bypass Road, collapsed bridges of Enugu-Port Harcourt Road, collapsed bridges of Shandam-Plateau State, Abuja-Kaduna- Zaria-Kano Road and Gombe-Bauchi etc,” the statement read.
It went on to state that President Bola Tinubu was aware of the state of the roads he inherited on 29 May 2023.
“Without prejudice to all the good efforts of the past administration on road infrastructure development which they tackled within the limit of their resources, the work to be done to change the ugly state of Nigerian roads is quite enormous.
“Mr. President is not complaining of the challenges he inherited in nearly all sectors of the economy, especially as it concerns our road infrastructure, but he is quite courageous as he had promised to tackle the problems head-on which he has started to do not minding the debt burden inherited especially the funding gap of over six trillion naira (₦6 trillion) from most of the inherited on-going road projects.”
The statement went on to say that President Tinubu would bring his commitment, consistency, and innovation in actualizing sustainable road infrastructure development in Nigeria.
N300 Billion Supplementary Budget for Works Ministry
Three hundred billion naira (₦300 billion) was approved for the Ministry of Works in the 2023 supplementary budget.
This comprises ₦100 billion for immediate palliative works in Nigeria’s 36 states and Federal Capital Territory and ₦200 billion for the continuation of inherited projects, as well as a few new but critical road projects.
Umahi wants the public to assist the Federal Ministry of Works and FERMA by supervising the contractors that would be engaged in the palliative works and other projects.
The ministry has asked that poorly constructed roads be photographed and reported to the following contacts:
08030986263, 08037086137, or 08106423197.
The information should show the contractor’s name, the project location, the type of contract, and the defects observed.
The Federal Ministry of Works will document the reports, verify, and take effective action to correct infractions, the minister promised.
The Director of Works of the 36 States, the FCT, and FERMA have been directed to audit all projects under their supervision.
Umahi said the assignment must be completed before 30 November 2023, as the directive was given two months before.
