President Muhammadu Buhari has so far this year disbursed the sum of N720.5bn for capital projects in the country.
In his address on the 56th Independence Anniversary of the country, the President disclosed that 12 major highway constructions and rehabilitations had taken off.
“The sum of N12bn was allocated to this sector in the 2015 budget, not enough even to pay interest on outstanding unpaid claims. Notwithstanding the budgetary constraints, the current budget allocated N240bn for highway projects against N12bn in 2015,” he said.
President Buhari noted that many contractors owed by the last administration for three years had now re-mobilized to sites.
Buhari, added that the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing had received N197.5bn, which has been utilized for the completion of the following highways:
°Dualization of Calabar – Itu Road in Cross River/ Akwa Ibom States.
•Dualization of Lokoja – Benin Road, Ehor – Benin city, Edo State.
•Re-construction of outstanding sections of Benin – Shagamu Express way, Edo/Ogun States.
•Expansion works on Lagos – Ibadan Dual carriageway, Ogun/Oyo States
•Rehabilitation of Onitsha – Enugu Expressway, Anambra/Enugu States.
•Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Enugu – Port Harcourt Dual carriageway, Abia/Rivers States.
•Rehabilitation of Hadejia – Nguru Road, Jigawa State.
•Dualization of Kano – Katsina Road, Kano State.
•Dualization of Kano – Maiduguri Road, Borno State.
•Dualization of Azare – Potiskum Road, Azare – Sharuri Road, Bauchi State.
•Rehabilitation of Ilorin – Jebba – Mokwa – Birnin Gwari Road, Kwara State.
•Construction of Oju/Lokoja – Oweto Bridge over River Benue, Benue State.
President Buhari emphasized that he is committed to constructing new major highways and rehabilitation of the old ones very soon.
“Already contractors have recalled about 9,000 workers laid off and Government expects that several hundreds of thousands of workers will be reengaged in the next few months as our public works program gains momentum.
“On railways, we have provided our counterpart funding to China for the building of our standard gauge Lagos -Kano railway. Meanwhile, General Electric is investing two point two billion USDin a concession to revamp, provide rolling stock, and manage the existing lines, including the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Line. The Lagos-Calabar railway will also be on stream soon,” he said.