The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, this weekend disclosed that the Federal government of Nigeria has a backlog of N336 billion in payments to be made to various contractors.
Fashola, in an interview with Arise Television made this known while speaking on the challenges being faced in the Ministry which he oversees. He said only N27 billion has been paid so far to the owed contractors while more certificates are piling up for the contracts that have not been paid.
The minister said:
“Our debts as of the end of July, our outstanding and unpaid certificates, for example, were in the area of N336 billion. Now, the release we have from the ministry of finance for the second quarter is N27 billion. Then we have the Sukuk N162 billion. So, if you add that up, we are still way behind and more certificates are piling up for work that we haven’t paid.
He also added that:
When you divide N162 billion by 44 roads, what is left? That defines where we are in terms of the funding challenge.
At this moment, for example, FERMA is going to undertake 192 road repairs and maintenance over the next 12 months. They just sent me the implementation plan on Friday last week and they are good to go.” he said.
A number of road projects in Nigeria are incompleted and abandoned due to an array of challenges with funding being the major problem, however Unions within the country have clamored for better management of road projects.
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