The Federal Government is planning to obtain a loan of N921.4bn out of the N1.39trn needed by the Ministry of Works to complete 195 ongoing road projects across the country.
According to Minister of Works Mike Onolememen, this is because the government does not have sufficient fund for the projects. Briefing journalists after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held on Wednesday, the minister explained that with government dependence on its budget alone, it would take up to eight years to complete the projects.
Onolememen, who addressed the journalists in company of Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, argued that, “to ensure timely completion of all the projects, a multilateral approach was under way, as well as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme that will add about 6,000 kilometers of road nationwide is being explored.”
The minister further disclosed that over the past 12 years, the Federal Works Authorities had spent N1.397trn on road construction and repairs in the six geo-political zones of the country.
He also said the Ministry of Works has completed 31 road projects in the north-central zone, covering 1,054 kilometers at the total sum of N262.3bn while in the Northeast, the ministry has a total of 30 ongoing projects covering a total of about 1,461km at the contract sum of N332.9bn.
He disclosed further that in the Northwest, the Federal Ministry of Works has a total of 23 ongoing projects covering a total of about 1,028km at the contract sum of N255.5bn to its credit while the ministry has a total of 40 ongoing projects covering a total of about 978km at the contract sum of N149.6bn in the Southeast.
In the South-South, the ministry said it has a total of 34 ongoing projects covering a total of about 876km at the contract sum of N159.4bn while in the South-West the ministry also has a total of 37 ongoing projects covering a total of about 1,230km at the contract sum of N236.9bn.
Arch. Onolememen claimed that out of this total portfolio size of ongoing project that has been put at N1.397trn, “a total of about N523.6bn has been certified and only about N475.5bn has been paid, leaving a balance of about N921.4bn of that portfolio.”
According to him, this means that “cumulatively unto the time that the portfolio is completed, we will be requiring about N921.4bn to complete all the over 195 ongoing projects in the country.”
The minister commended President Goodluck Jonathan for concentrating on roads in the last two years, saying last year alone, his ministry received a total capital budgetary provision of about N143.5bn and paid out N101bn. He added that the ministry received a marginal N85.5bn allocation from the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), through which six projects, including the Lokoja- Abaji-Abuja Road, are currently being funded.
Minister of State for Works, Bashiru Yuguda, while corroborating Onolememen’s claims, explained that the ministry no longer pays contractors on presentation of certificate but on completion of a section of the project, in order to attract value for money spent on such projects.
