N400bn needed annually for road maintenance –NASS

Fred Itua, Abuja

The 35,000 kilometres federal roads in the country can only be motorable at all times if the sum of N400 billion is released yearly for maintenance, the National Assembly has said.

It described the N38 billion earmarked for that purpose in the 2021 budget proposal as infinitesimal for any serious road maintenance work .

This is as joint committees on Appropriation at both Chambers work round the clock to complete the harmonised  report on the rejigged  N13.08 trillion 2021 budget proposals.

Decrying the parlous amounts budgeted for road maintenance on yearly basis by the Federal Government,  Chairman Senate Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency ( FERMA) , Senator Gersome Bassey , said N400 billion is required for such projects yearly.

He said  the N38 billion earmarked for maintenance of over 35,000 kilometres Federal Roads across the country will not give Nigerians the desired results.

Road Maintenance he explained , in a country like Nigeria where road transportation is most used for movement of people , goods and services across the country can only be effectively carried out with roughly about N400 billion on yearly basis

“What the committee has just submitted to the Appropriation committee for such exercise in 2021 fiscal year , is the N38 billion 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 portion of the road .

“Doing that without proposals 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 committees on FERMA at both chambers are concerned is very bad requiring  far more than N38 billion earmarked.

“If the roads are well maintained on yearly basis, reconstruction and rehabilitation which require bigger amounts of monies may not be necessary as frequently as they are now,” he said.

Being the last committee to submit its report to the Appropriation Committee on Friday, chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee, Jibrin Barau (APC Kano North), said the next stage of work for  the committee is to carry out the required scrutinisation of the reports, harmonise with the House  of Representatives for submission at  both chambers on  Thursday .

“Timetable for that has already been drawn up and we shall work assiduously in keeping to it by submitting harmonised report of the budgetary proposal to the Senate on December 3 for final consideration and passage latest by the following week.”