Ndubuisi Orji , Abuja
The House of Representatives, yestersday, frowned at a statement credited to the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, that the Federal Government will not refund money spent by states to repair federal roads.
Chairman, House Committee on Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Olufemi Bamisile, who stated this at the inaugural meeting of the committee, said Fashola has indirectly told governors not to bother reparing federal roads in their domain.The lawmaker noted that there was need to address the deplorable state of road infrastructure, as majority of Nigerians rely on roads for their travels. I need to remind us that 99 percent of Nigerians rely on road to get to their destinations within the country. Some Nigerians cannot afford to travel by air. Unfortunately, transportation by rail is limited at the moment because the only functional railway line is Abuja-Kaduna rail. Therefore, we have a duty as a committee to ensure our roads are safe and motorable.” He tasked members of the committee to think out of the box in order to come up with strategies to make FERMA perform optimally.