Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Federal Road Maintenance Agency, Femi Bamisile, says the N460bn budgeted for construction and maintenance of federal roads in 2021 Appropriation Act was not having any positive effect on Nigerians.
Condemning the state of federal roads and how commuters were being stranded owing to collapse of bridges, Bamisile described the N30bn allocated to FERMA out of the budgetary provision to Works Ministry as “paltry, wicked and insensitive”.
He spoke in Aramoko Ekiti, Ekiti West Local government Area of Ekiti State at the weekend while addressing some angry commuters who got stranded on the Igede-Aramoko -Efon Road.
A bus belonging to Etie Okwe Transport Company had got stuck at a bad portion of the road and obstructed free flow of vehicles along that route for over 24 hours.
The lawmaker said: “I have met with the Minister of Works, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, several times on the terrible conditions of the federal roads in Ekiti State and what Nigerians are passing through.
“This situation is unfortunate and we have to find solutions to it. We leant that a bridge got cut off at Jebba in Kwara State and these heavy trucks from the North and South now find Ekiti as the most convenient place to ply and that had further caused serious damage to both federal and state roads.
“I have moved round Ekiti and what I saw were disturbing. The bridge at Jebba had collapsed and made those going to the East, Central, far North, West and South-south of the country to be taking Ekiti route.
“On Friday, I saw about 1,000 trucks along Ado- Akure road stranded because of bad road. I pity what Nigerians are passing through this time.
“The Federal Ministry of Works got a total of N460bn in the budget and N30bn was given to FERMA. This is too small for a body saddled with maintenance and rehabilitation of roads across Nigeria. Nigerians cannot be treated this way.”
