Abuja, January 17, 2025 -
The Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi has told the National Assembly that a whopping sum of N18trn was required in the country to address its roads infrastructure.
The Minister who openly declared that he was frustrated with fixing Nigerian roads due to the paucity of funds arising from meagre yearly budgetary provisions, said that enormous additional funds are required to complement the budgetary provisions in the form of loans.
According to him, the annual provisions in the National Assembly Appropriation Bills would not be able to address the problem.
Speaking with journalists yesterday in Abuja after he appeared before Senator Barinada Mpigi, PDP, Rivers led the Senate Committee on Works to defend his ministry’s 2025 budget estimates, Umahi said, “Remember the President inherited 2,064 projects, totalling N13trn in 2023. if you review that project in line with the market realities now, it should be close to N18trn now
“I’ve not failed in many of my life engagements but I’m feeling frustrated with fixing roads in Nigeria with funds that are not in any way, tangible for what are required.
"This is the reason why special funds in the form of loans, are needed to be taken for road infrastructure in the country.
"And so, when the President, who is an economist, who has gone through all the segments of what we’re passing through, because of his experiences, and is making efforts to borrow money to do these projects, then the public will be doubting our knowledge.
“The roads, when fixed, are catalysts to economic growth. And they also eliminate hunger. Because road infrastructure activities create a lot of economic activities.
“Also, those who are selling sand, chippings, mamaput, rocks, and so on. And there will be a lot of activities. So we need to pay attention and encourage Mr. President to borrow money. He cannot manufacture money. He has to be encouraged. Because a man is trying to put money in your pocket.
“You say he’s trying to steal your money. That’s very discouraging. So road infrastructure cannot be fixed by mere yearly budgetary provisions.
It has to be given plenty of attention. Thank you very much."
Apparently sympathizing with the Minister, members of the committee chaired by Senator Mpigi Barinaga, one after the other, commended him for making the best use of the meagre budgetary allocations and concurred with his suggestion for alternative funding of road infrastructure across the country.
They specifically declared that N827billion proposed allocation for the Ministry for road fixing in 2025 is significant to enormous works on the ground
Earlier the Chairman Senate Committee on Works, Senator Mpigi who noted that Nigeria’s road infrastructure needed huge funds to be effectively addressed, said, “We can see that these projects are very enormous and we have to see how we can engage in other ways to get money to see how projects can be delivered to our people.
“Sometimes when people look at the National Assembly asking for projects in their homes it is not because the National Assembly just wanted to do that project in their house.”
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