Federal Roads: Senator Bassey Wants FG to Release N850bn Owed FERMA

Bassey Inyang in Calabar

Coming on the hills of the adoption of his motion for the declaration of a state of emergency on federal roads by the Senate, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Mr. Gershom Bassey, wanted the federal government to urgently release N850 Billion owed the agency.

Making the call in a press release issued to journalists in Calabar yesterday, Bassey who is representing the Cross River South Senatorial District said the money should be released to FERMA so it could urgently rehabilitate about 35,000km of federal roads in 2022.

Bassey, who is aspiring to be governor of Cross River State in 2023, said he had already moved a motion on the floor of the Senate to ensure that the federal government would do the needful considering state of roads in the country.

He said: “The sum of about N850 billion that is to accrue to FERMA by virtue of the five percent user charge on pump price of petrol, diesel and international vehicle transit charges provided for in Section 14 of FERMA(Amendment) Act No.18 of 2007 is still being owed FERMA by the Federal Government.

“I call on the federal government to immediately make good its indebtedness to FERMA in order to enable the agency carry out its primary responsibility of rehabilitating federal roads, especially in the face of the astronomical increase in airfares.

“FERMA had a budgetary approval of just 20 per cent of the funds the agency requires for the rehabilitation of about 35,000km of federal roads in 2022,” Bassey said.

The senator said that it was very disturbing that local airfares in Nigeria have risen by 63 per cent in response to a spike in the price of aviation fuel and attendant cost of operation and it is quite disturbing.

“The rise in airfare has pegged the minimum economy class ticket at around N80,000 for travelers buying a one-hour, one-way economy tickets.

“That the increase in airfares will increase the pressure on the neglected and dilapidated Nigerian roads and will further worsen the state of the roads,” Bassey said.