Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has said that fixing Nigerian roads will require a whopping N18 trillion in the next four years.
While defending the supplementary budget of his ministry before the Abubakar Kabir Abubakar-led House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, yesterday, he canvassed the establishment of a contingency fund for the maintenance of roads in the country.
Arguing on the need for a lasting solution to the deplorable state of roads in the country, the former governor of Ebonyi State said he was under the instruction of President Bola Tinubu to ensure the completion of roads projects he inherited from the previous administration.
He disclosed that the Tinubu-led administration inherited 2,604 uncompleted road projects worth N14 billion, adding that over N3 billion had been paid to contractors handling the projects between May to date.
Umahi further stated that the net deficit of the cost of roads projects stood at N11 trillion.
He said: “I have to liken the situation in the Ministry of Works to that of a man on life support that needs immediate attention or to that of a man that was shot and taken to the hospital and was asked to go and get a police report.
“Where there is an emergency, the road is cut off, movement is stopped and the people suffer. It needs an emergency, and so we appeal to you to give us a contingency fund, so that your motions will be of legal effect because we have a place we can go and draw money from.”
The minister, who recalled how he spent over 14 hours on a road assessment trip between Abuja and Benin City, on assumption of office, described poor road network as a contributory factor to kidnapping and armed robbery in the country.
He called on the lawmakers to appropriate N1.3 trillion yearly to the Works Ministry as part of measures to fix all the road networks in a state of disrepair as well as embark on the construction of new roads.
Umahi reiterated his resolve to use concrete pavement in lieu of asphalt in road construction since the means is cheaper and more durable.
