It has been tasked on the lawmakers by the minister to come up with more priority projects within their constituencies.
Babatunde Fashola being the Minister of Works and Housing made it clear that Nigeria cannot afford to construct new roads or new projects during each budget cycle, due to the high level of inflation and dwindling revenues.
It has been reported by TheCable that the minister spoke on Wednesday being November 3, 2021, where he appeared before the House of Representatives committee on works to defend the ministry’s budget.
Instead of the normal awarding of new road projects, “limited resources” should be channelled into the completion of abandoned projects, Fashola proposed.
“The number of projects are drastically increasing and all of us must find a way to come to a consensus, because our revenue is definitely not increasing at the same exponential rate,” he stated.
“What we see every year is that we appropriate for a token amount for a project of certain quantum”
“And, once the award is done, the question of financing becomes a major challenge.”
“With the level of inflation and everything, there must come a time and i hopefully believe that time is now; Mr Chairman and Honourable members, enough of these new roads and new projects.”
“Let us focus our limited resources to complete or progress some of what we have started.
“In finding the solution to this, I will be happy. There are couple of roads in Osun and we cannot finish them all in one budget cycle.”
“If at all the parliamentarians from each state can come together and say, this is one priority project for us and decide to move our zonal intervention project — and say that this is what we want to achieve — this is an honest conversation we must and should have,” he added.
Fashola has served as Lagos state Governor from 2007 to 2015.
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