In spite of N757.48bn budgeted for road rehabilitation and reconstruction by the Federal Government since 2015, most of its roads are still in a terrible state of disrepair.
Investigations by The PUNCH in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria showed that the budgetary allocation had not made appreciable impacts on the roads across the country as many of them had not only become eyesores, but also embarrassments to a nation in search of investors.
Findings also indicated that the bad state of the roads had been aiding bandits and herdsmen, who killed and kidnapped travellers in impassable spots on these highways.
The N757.48bn budgeted by the Federal Government for the road sector was arrived at based on the analysis of the figures contained in the annual budget documents for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 and obtained from the Budget Office of the Federation.
According to the analysis of the budget documents by our correspondents, N17.8bn was budgeted for roads and bridges by the Federal Government in the 2015 budget, while the figure rose to N132.4bn in 2016 for over 50 roads and bridges’ project.
In 2017, the allocation rose to N263.28bn for over 200 roads and bridges’ projects, while N344bn was budgeted for the 2018 fiscal period.
Analysis of the budget showed that N1.6bn was budgeted for the Abuja-Abaji Road, N1.51bn for the Kano-Maiduguri Road, N1.05bn for the dualisation of the Obajana-Benin, N1.04bn for the Enugu-Port Harcourt Road, among others
Further analysis of the budget document showed that in 2016, N13bn was budgeted for the dualisation of the Kano-Maiduguri Road, Sections I-V; while N8.7bn was appropriated for the reconstruction and pavement strengthening of sections of the Benin-Sagamu Expressway.
In the same vein, N14.2bn was appropriated for the construction of the Oju/Loko Oweto Bridge to link Loko and Oweto roads that connect Benue State to Nasarawa State and Oshegbudu-Oweto Road, while N13bn was appropriated for the concession of the Second Niger Bridge.
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