N460bn Budgetary Allocation for Federal Roads Inappropriate, Says Lawmaker
By Victor Ogunje
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Hon. Femi Bamisile, has said the staggering sum of N460 billion budgeted for the construction and maintenance of federal roads in 2021 appropriation law is not having any positive effect on Nigerians.
Bemoaning the state of federal roads and the plight of commuters who ply the roads who are in deplorable condition, Bamisile described the N30 billion allocated to FERMA out of the budgetary provision to the Federal Ministry of Works as “paltry, wicked and insensitive”.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain said this in Aramoko Ekiti, Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti State on Saturday, while addressing some angry commuters who got stranded along the Igede-Aramoko-Efon road.
A luxury bus, belonging to Etie Okwe Transport Company, got stuck at a bad portion of the road and obstructed free flow of vehicles along that route for over 24 hours.
The federal lawmaker, representing Gbonyin/Ekiti East/Emure federal constituency, also visited Ado-Ilawe-Igbara-Oke and Ado-Ikere-Akure road, where similar situations were experienced and called on the Ekiti State Traffic Management Agency to rise to the occasion and remove the faulty vehicles.
Bamisile, who lamented the harrowing experiences of motorists, said FERMA had begun the reconstruction of a bridge that collapsed at Ijan Ekiti, Gbonyin Local Government Area and causing traffic congestion along the Ado-Ijan-Ikare road.
The lawmaker, who branded what Nigerians are experiencing across the six geo-political zones as pathetic and disturbing, said: “I have met with the Minister of Works, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, several times on the terrible conditions of the federal roads in Ekiti State and what Nigerians are passing through.
“This situation is unfortunate and we have to find solutions to it. We leant that a bridge got cut off at Jebba in Kwara State and these heavy trucks from the north and south now find Ekiti as the most convenient place to ply and that had further caused serious damage to both federal and state roads.
“I have moved round Ekiti and what I saw were disturbing. The bridge at Jebba had collapsed and made those going to the east, central, far north, west and South-south of the country to be taking Ekiti route.
“On Friday, I saw about 1,000 trucks along Ado-Akure road stranded because of bad road. I pity what Nigerians are passing through this time.
“The Federal Ministry of Works got a total of N460 billion in the budget and N30 billion was given to FERMA. This is too small for a body saddled with maintenance and rehabilitation of roads across Nigeria. Nigerians cannot be treated this way.
“There should be a serious reform in the way our federal roads are being maintained. Let all the monies being allocated be structured accordingly so that Nigerians can be rescued from this mess.
“On my return to Abuja, I will take this matter up. I have been to the north, south and everywhere, we are experiencing bad roads and this is because of poor funding and this must change because Nigerians are really suffering.”
Bamisile implored the stranded motorists not to resort to violence for they have no other country than Nigeria, adding that he will ensure that all the barricades are removed for them to continue with their journeys.
On the panacea to the deplorable state of roads in the country, he appealed to the federal government to grant tax relief to Aliko Dangote and also adopt concrete tarring to ensure durability.
“The best and most modern method of construction now is concrete tarring. That was what Dangote adopted in construction of Lokoja-Obajana road. The government should also grant tax relief to Dangote for it to be able to perform more corporate social responsibilities to Nigerians. If the company is allowed to do this, it will help us.
“All these we are experiencing on our roads should not be happening in a city, it can only happen in the jungle,” Bamisile stated.
