The Federal Government on Monday said it had spent N120bn on 32 road projects across the country in the last two years.
The Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, disclosed this in Abuja at the 2013 Ministerial Platform, an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Information designed to promote national conversation and good governance culture.
Onolememen said the cost of repairing the 32 road projects was N126bn, but the Federal Government through his ministry had so far paid N120bn.
He said, “The Federal Ministry of Works, under my leadership, has been able to make momentous improvements on the rehabilitation, reconstruction and expansion of federal road network in the past two years.
“Thus far, we have completed 32 road projects covering about 2,000 kilometres. The cost of constructing the 32 road projects is N126bn, and so far, the Federal Government has paid N120bn.
“The total cost of delivering those 32 roads cumulatively came to about N126bn. But I will like to emphasise that out of that sum, the Federal Ministry of Works has paid about N120bn for those projects.”
The minister noted that before the inception of the present administration on May 29, 2011, Nigerian roads were seen as death traps.
He, however, stated that travel times between origins and destinations on most of these arterial routes had now been drastically reduced.
Onolememen observed that the cost of maintaining vehicles in the country had also been brought low as a result of improved driving surfaces devoid of potholes.
He said within two years, 35 per cent of bad roads in the country had been rehabilitated with over 500 engineers being employed and also over 4,000 youths recruited by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency.
The minister said the government would in July announce the preferred bidders for the Apakun/Oshodi/Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road in Lagos, and the Nupeko Bridge across the River Niger in Niger state.
“While a successful bidder, Julius Berger-AIIM Consortium, has been announced for the Second Niger Bridge and pre-contract works have started on the bridge, the process for the selection of the successful bidders in the other two projects is ongoing and a preferred bidder each will be announced for the projects by July 2013,” he said.