Posted by On Monday, the Senate expressed disapproval at the nationwide contractors’ failure to finish road construction.
When Minister of Works David Umahi came before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Works for the 2024 budget defense, Senator Mpigi Barinada, the head of the Senate Committee on Works, disclosed this.
Barinada, who expressed disapproval of the contractors’ conduct, stated in his speech that the Senate will do everything within its power to prevent the waste of public dollars.
“We object to a scenario where contractors are mobilized and, due to oversight, you are unable to find contractors at the majority of those sites,” he stated.
For example, the contractor in charge of Aba-Owerri Road, Abia, repair has been called in. He hasn’t done any work as of yet. He has amassed roughly N76 million. Repair of a 21-kilometer stretch of the Bende Road in Abia that connects Akwa Ibom; contractor paid N445 million and more; no performance.”
Additionally, Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi) stated: “The second Niger Bridge has cost approximately N336 billion.” We were also informed that the bridge will remain inoperable until two crucial roads are finished, which will cost N260 billion.
“There is no funding allocated for this. It’s also crucial that you use a comprehensive strategy when choosing Nigeria’s road network to avoid not finishing items A and B, which would prevent fixing items A and C, which are essential to the operation of item B.
The road connecting Abuja, Lokja, and Ahuchi has been under construction for more than 20 years. We have seen budgetary provisions year in and year out, but they have not been fulfilled and many lives have been lost nearly every day.
It links almost 20 states, and from what I can tell from the budget, the only item that links Okene is the N10 million special repair of the Okene-Ajaokuta-Itakpe route. The Abuja-Lokoja Okene-Auchi road ought to be our top focus.
The Senate Committee on Local Content’s chair, Akpoti-Uduaghan, stated that a significant portion of the raw materials used in road building should, if at all feasible, come from Nigeria.