Minister: We need N16trn to complete inherited roads

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, says the Federal Government needs more than N16 trillion to complete inherited road projects nationwide.

Umahi made the disclosure when he briefed newsmen on the achievements of the ministry under the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of President Bola Tinubu in Abuja on Thursday, August 22, 2024.

The minister said the present administration inherited a total of 18,932.50 kilometres of ongoing road projects, with a total of 2,064 contracts.

He stated that the total value of all the ongoing projects as of May 2023 was N14.42 trillion.

Umahi added that the amount certified was N4.73 trillion with N3.12 trillion paid and N1.61 trillion owed.

Umahi said: “The funding gap to complete all the inherited projects is about N13 trillion as of May 2023; that will be more than N16 trillion when all projects are reviewed in line with current market realities.

“This is due to the removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the naira.

“It is a very sound economic decision by this administration, considering the fact that some of the projects have lingered for between five and eight years.

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“Consequently, the projects are being reviewed to match current market realities; this position excludes all the new projects under the Renewed Hope Agenda and the four legacy projects.”

The minister further stated that the old traditional method of funding highway projects was through the annual budgetary provision.

He, however, said over the years, budget provisions had seemed inadequate to address the challenges of highway development.

Umahi stated that to meet funding for road projects, the ministry embraced alternative funding mechanisms like the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) and Sovereign SUKUK issued by the Debt Management Office (DMO).

The minister said other funding included the Road Tax Credit Scheme (NNPCL, NLNG, Dangote, BUA, MIN, Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, and GZI Industries) and the use of multilateral loans.

Others are the Public Private Partnership (PPP)/Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI) and the newly established Renewed Hope Infrastructure Funding model.

The Star