Not all bad roads are federal government responsibility - Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed

The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed has told Nigerians that not all bad roads in their state are the responsiblity of the Federal Government.

Zainab who spoke to newsmen after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday November 13, stated that some roads are the responsibility of the state and local governments.

Though admitting the FG has not done enough to address the infrastuctural decay, she added that some financial instruments have been accessed by the Nigerian government to fix some collapsing roads.

“I also want to remind you that for the past two years, we have issued Sukuk bonds. In 2017, it was for the construction of 25 roads. In 2018, 23 roads and there is also another one that is being processed.

“We have a lot of roads in the country, but not every road you see is the responsibility of the federal government. The major arterial roads are the ones that are the responsibility of the federal government.
“Majority of the roads in the country are within the purview and responsibility of states as well as local governments.
“Have we done enough? No, not yet, that is why we are trying to do more including raising special funds to make sure that roads and other infrastructure are being addressed,” the minister said.

Zainab further disclosed that the Ministry of Works has gotten most of the money in the annual budget presented by the Buhari-led administration.

“Our fiscal space is tight, resources are limited but at the time we have funds to release, the highest proportion goes to power, transport, works and housing. Also, we have introduced some measures that have seen private sector participants getting involved in road construction.

“One of these measures is the Road Infrastructure Task Credit Scheme that Mr President approved by executive order earlier this year. So far, we have 17 companies that are carrying out 19 roads across the six geo-political zones,” Zainab added.