No appropriation for new road projects in 2025 – Umahi

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said that there might not be any budgetary allocation for new roads as over 4,000 such roads are yet to be executed in the country.

Umahi said this during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

“We have been making request to the National Assembly so that they can complete the projects on ground, especially, inherited ones, and deliver them for the people,” Umahi said.

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He stressed that some of the projects would take trillions of Naira to complete, adding, that “we are talking with various contractors in a bid to look into their contract variations and in line with new procurement processes.”

Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration, Umahi noted that four legacy Highway Projects have been carefully selected for implementation to improve road network and train services connectivity across the six geo-political zones to boost socio-economic development.

The Minister explained that the projects are life-changing ventures aimed at improving the lives of citizens and boosting the economy.

According to him, the present administration inherited a total of 18,932.50 kilometers of ongoing projects with a total of 2,064 contracts.

“The total value of all the ongoing projects as of May 2023 was ₦14,424,982, 425,616.40. The amount owed contractors for certified works was ₦1,612,220,413,879.65,” Umahi said.

The Minister noted that the funding gap to complete all the inherited projects is about ₦13 trillion as of May 2023 and will be more than N16 trillion when all projects are reviewed in line with current market reality.

Umahi said N300 billion was provided for 260 emergency projects in the 2023 Supplementary Budget.