The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi has stated that the Federal government has released ₦108.50 billion out of the ₦217.00bn set aside for emergency repair of 260 roads across the country.
Umahi disclosed this during a meeting with all directors of the ministry of works on Thursday in Abuja.
Also read; Nigerian student killed by Canadian police, NIDCOM opens investigation
He said, “I am pleased to announce that 50 per cent of the palliative works for the year 2023 have been released to the ministry. The pressure is already on me and that’s why I even had to resume early. All budgets will close in March and that’s enough time to utilise the budget but if we can’t claim this money due to bureaucracy and people not doing what they are supposed to do, then which mouth do we have to say Ministry of Works is not funded?
“There is no hour I don’t get over 10 calls because contractors haven’t collected the contract paper and it wasn’t known to me that even the bill of quantities is not ready for the contractors to begin work. The palliative work is a very big test case for us. There is no excuse for us to fail. You can’t give the excuse that people do not come to work and all of our jobs are on the line. Our successes and failures are what people use to judge Mr President and he is not going to give them excuses.”
The emergency repairs will cut across all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Dave Umahi was quoted in 2023 after a closed-door meeting with President Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa as saying, “the President has approved over 260 road interventions across the 36 states and the FCT.”
His ministry had in October 2023, sought the approval of the Federal Government to undergo quick rehabilitation and intervention of 260 critically failed road projects across the country.
The roads under consideration include the resurfacing of the Third Mainland Bridge, construction of the Lekki Deep Seaport road, reconstruction of two collapsed bridges in Enugu and reconstruction of two locations on the Onitsha-Owerri Road.
Other roads approved for construction include the upgrading of the ongoing Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia road and the dualisation of the Lafia by-pass amongst others.
On the uncompleted section of the Abuja-Kaduna highway, Umahi promised to deliver the uncompleted section of the road before the end of the year.
The rehabilitation and reconstruction of the 375.9k dual carriageway from the FCT through Kaduna and Zaria to Kano is currently being handled by Julius Berger.
It is funded under the Presidential Development fund initiative set up by the administration of President Buhari.
At inception, the road projects under the initiative were the Abuja – Kano Road, Lagos – Ibadan Expressway and Second Niger Bridge.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur