The Federal Government is constructing 25 road projects in Kano.
Mr Yahaya Baba-Ali, the Federal Controller of Works in the State disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) on Friday in Kano.
Baba-Ali said out of the 25 ongoing projects, six have already been completed while 19 are still at various levels of completion.
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“Some of the completed roads are: Doka-Gulu, Falali bridge, Gezawa-Gumel-Maigatari, repairs of Gadar Dori in Falgore forest, Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi and Tamawa-Gulu.
“There are six major projects currently ongoing,.
“The ongoing projects are the dualisation of roads in Kano metropolis, the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway section III from Zaria to Kano of about 137km.
“It is a hybrid project and one of a kind in Nigeria where the road will be expanded from the existing two-lane carriageway to three-lane on both sides, including the service lane in township and buildup areas,” he said.
Baba-Ali further explained that one of the major challenges militating progress in some of the projects is the issue of payment for compensation for structures and land within the right-of-way.
“Now, based on the new policy the Federal Government henceforth will not pay compensation for roads in states.
“Out of the 25 ongoing projects, 15 are for either state or local government while 10 belong to the federal government,” he said.
Baba-Ali added that 23 out of the 25 roads have been awarded in the last four years of this administration in Kano.
“Another challenge facing the ministry is insufficient budgetry appropriation on specific projects. Meanwhile, this is being addressed gradually through the intervention of SUKUK funding on some major contracts.
“Among the ongoing projects executed by SUKUK intervention is the Kano-Maiduguri, Kano-Kastina, among several others,” he added.
NAN reports that Sukuk are financial products whose terms and structures comply with sharia, with the intention of creating returns similar to those of conventional fixed-income instruments like bonds.