The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, says Nigeria loses N1 trillion annually to deplorable roads.
Dogara said this on Tuesday in Abuja when he received the report of the Technical Committee on the Review of the Roads’ Funds Bills.
He said that the deficit in road rehabilitation and construction had claimed countless jobs from the citizens.
According to him, for every N1 we fail to spend on road infrastructure, the country loses N5 in return.
Dogara said that the loss in man-hours per annum was put at 10 billion hours and N1 trillion in monetary equivalents.
“These are apart from cost of life-threatening injuries, trauma, and loss of lives resulting from road crashes.
“The country is heavily indebted to firms constructing roads. How do we exit these debts so that the contractors and their workers can go back to work,’’ he asked.
He therefore said that there was need to look inward, adding that Nigeria should float an infrastructure bond that would capture road development.
“Nigeria’s road funding has been strictly through fiscal allocation since 1970.
“And, whereas the recommended expenditure plan for road is 3.0 per cent of the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP), we currently spend an infinitesimal 0.5 to 0.1 per cent GDP,’’ he said.
Earlier, Chairman of the 27-member Technical Committee, Rep. Chris Okoye, said the committee researched road development plans across a number of countries to come up with the workable plan for the Nigerian environment.
He said the committee recommended toll fees, fuel levy, axle load control charges, among others as reliable sources of funding for road development and maintenance.
On his part, Chairman, House Committee on Works, Rep. Toby Okechukwu, assured the speaker that efforts would be made to ensure that the house’s vision for quality road network for the nation was realised. (NAN)