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The Senate has disclosed N400billion as the appropriate budget the nation need for the maintenance of the 35,000 kilometers of federal roads in the country.
The Upper Chamber described the earmarked N38billion for road maintenance in the 2021 budget estimates as paltry compared to the serious road maintenance work needed across the country.
The Chairman Senate Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Senator Gershom Bassey (Cross River South), while responding to questions from reporters in Abuja, lamented over the poor budgetary allocation for road maintenance in the 2021 Appropriation Bill .
He said the N38billion proposed for maintenance of over 35,000 kilometres federal roads across the country will not give Nigerians the desired results.
He explained that road maintenance in Nigeria where road transportation is mostly used for the movement of people, goods and services across the country can only be effectively carried out with about N400billion on yearly basis.
According to Bassey: “What the committee has just submitted to the Appropriation Committee for road maintenance in the 2021 fiscal year is the N38billion proposed for it by the executive, which cannot cover up to one quarter of the entire length of deplorable roads in the country.
“Unfortunately, despite having the power of Appropriation, we cannot as a committee jerk up the sum since we are not in a position to carry out the estimation of work to be done on each of the specific portions of the road.
“Doing that without proposal to that effect from the executive, may lead to project insertion or padding as often alleged in the media.
“But the situation on ground as far as the Committee on FERMA in MN both Chambers are concerned, is very bad, requiring far more than the N38billion earmarked.
“If the roads are well maintained on yearly basis, reconstruction and rehabilitation which require bigger amounts of money and years to carry out, may not be necessary as frequently as they are now,” he said.
Fatimah Oyesanmi
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