Nigeria In One Minute
Senate demands immediate rehabilitation of federal roads in Nigeria
The Senate on Tuesday urged the Federal Government to immediately declare a state of emergency on federal roads across the country.
The Senate resolutions followed a Point of Order raised by Senator Gershom Bassey (PDP-Cross River) during the plenary in Abuja.
The parliament also implored the federal government to immediately settle its debt to Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to enable the agency carry out its primary responsibility of rehabilitating roads, especially in the face of the astronomical increase in airfares.
Bassey, who raised the matter under Order 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Rules, decried the deplorable condition of federal roads across the country.
He also lamented that local airfares in Nigeria had increased by 63 percent in response to the hike in the price of aviation fuel and attendant cost of operation.
The lawmaker expressed concern that the increase in airfares would increase the pressure on the dilapidated roads and further worsen their state.
READ ALSO: Why FG is accelerating works on Outer Marina roads – Fashola
He said: “The humongous debt owed FERMA by the Federal Government has hampered the effective discharge of the agency’s primary responsibility of road maintenance and rehabilitation.”
Senator George Sekibo (PDP-Rivers) also decried the deplorable state of the roads.
“The roads are bad and the airfares are high. This affects the economy.
“The law establishing FERMA in Section 14 has provided a five percent charge from petroleum pump prices. This money from inception of the law is being collected. Who is collecting it?
“Over N850 billion has been collected. If we have N850 billion, maybe it won’t be able to complete all the roads but it will repair 50 percent and people can now move easily,” he stated.
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