The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has disclosed that the focus of the 2021 budget proposal of his ministry is the completion of priority road projects across the country.
The Minister stated this in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by the Director, Press and Public Relations of the FMWH, Boade Akinola.
Fashola explained that in view of the volume of road projects, it has become imperative for the ministry to prioritise its 2021 capital proposal in order to make appreciable impact on road infrastructure development.
The ministry stated in the statement that it is currently undertaking a total of 711 highway projects spread across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The 711 road projects were categorized according to funding mechanisms which include projects financed with Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund, Sovereign Sukuk Fund, Tax Credit, as well as those funded from multilateral sources.
Fashola said the ministry was financing a total of 44 roads and bridges across the country using the 2020 sovereign Sukuk issuance. He then added that the roads were mainly dual carriageways on the major arterial routes A1 to A9 on the Federal Road networks.
He was quoted as saying, “The ministry has given priority first to about 18 road and bridge projects that have attained some appreciable level of completion. We are focusing on roads that have attained 70 per cent completion levels.”
The minister therefore appealed to Nigerians to stop the agitation for new rad projects but to agree on completion of the ongoing projects that cut across all zones due to budgetary constraints. He also appealed that budget ceiling for highway projects in the 2021 budget proposal be made to cover the execution of works during the year as well as leverage on other funding sources.
