'We'll make 2,000KM of road motorable in 2016,' minister assures

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this while answering questions at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja on Wednesday, May 18.

Fashola said that the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is focusing on completing all strategic roads that demand urgent attention before undertaking other road rehabilitation projects.

“There are roads that only sections of them are bad. There are roads that are really devastated that need to be totally rebuilt," the Minister said.

“And so, that is why our target is to make about 2,000 km of roads motorable network this year.

“So, the way I explained it then makes sense. We are not building 2,000 km roads. Our budget cannot build 2,000 kilometres of roads in one budget year.

“But because there are bad sections, there are failed sections (and) there are sections that need to be repaired.

“If we do all of that, then Nigerians will have a pleasant riding and travelling experience over about 2,000 kilometres of road network.

“And we can do that year-on-year over the next three years."

Speaking on how the ministry intends to go about spending funds allocated for the rehabilitation of roads, Fashola said the current budgeting system was targeted at eliminating the incidence of abandoned roads.

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He noted that funds released would be closely monitored to ensure no project is left uncompleted.

He said: “What we have done in the past is to budget for every road without being mindful of its state of completion.

“We must budget to complete projects that need special attention very quickly so that we are also not distracted in our capacity to monitor all projects.

“So, this year, we are going to put more money on certain projects because they are strategic and they have made some progress.

“And we think that we can finish them or nearly finish them either this year or next year.

“That does not mean that other projects are not important; but it means that we perhaps have to wait a little so that we finish those strategic ones."

Fashola reaffirmed the commitment of the present administration to ensure the completion of all road projects.