Your priorities misplaced – Reps panel blasts Umahi over deplorable roads

Umahi attributed the deplorable state of roads across the country to the dearth of resources.

The House of Representatives Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has slammed the Minister of Works, David Umahi, over the deplorable roads across the country.

Umahi received a hairdryer treatment from the panel members during an interactive session last Thursday, as shown in a video that has gone viral on social media.

The chairman of the committee, Remi Oseni, claimed that the minister was getting his priorities wrong.

However, the Minister told the panel that the deplorable state of roads was due to a dearth of resources, to which the committee chairman disagreed, insisting that funding is not the problem.

“You are not here to tell us what we already know in the area of resources,” Oseni said.

“So, if you are telling us the reason you have failed in fixing our road infrastructure is because of resources — don’t let me take you up on that because you concentrated your energy as a minister on less priority issues.

“Don’t discuss resources. All the roads that we have across the country have failed. If you are addressing the existing roads with the resources that you have, Hon minister, we will not be where we are. Don’t discuss resources.

“Last year, you got N300 billion supplementary budget approval. Don’t raise my emotions. I am worried that you are not concerned about fixing Nigerian roads.

“We are not here for business of whether you want to do the job or you don’t want to do the job. Stop telling us you are awarding road contracts.

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“We don’t want you to be awarding roads that you are not ready to do. How can you be telling us that there are no resources? With what everybody (lawmakers) has said, it is a clue that you have no plan for us as a nation,” Oseni said.

Some Nigerians are of the opinion that Umahi has left the roads unattended while concentrating more efforts on the construction of the 700km Lagos-Calabar coastal highway which is estimated to cost ₦15 trillion.

The minister also recently flagged off the construction of Section I, Phase 1A of the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, a 1,068-kilometer project contracted to Hitech Construction Nigeria Limited.
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