Nigeria’s Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said on Wednesday that Nigerian roads are not as bad as they are being portrayed.
Mr Fashola insisted that reports on the poor state of roads in the country are mere hype.
The Minister stated this in a chat with State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), meeting presided over by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said FEC approved the contract for the construction of Bida-Sachi-Nupeko road and the Nupeko-Patigi bridge across River Niger, linking Nupeko and Patigi in Niger and Kwara States at the sum of N58.488 billion.
Mr Fashola was flanked by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.
He said the approved project would link Niger and Kwara together and facilitate connectivity from southwest to the north-central and the rest of the northern part of Nigeria.
The Minister said the project was an old contract that was awarded in 2013 but was terminated for non-performance, revaluated and awarded.
Mr Fashola said: “It didn’t have a bridge then so we have added the bridge now and approved for N58.488 billion and is expected to take 30 months to complete.”
On the condition of Nigerian roads, he said the roads are not as bad as they are often portrayed.
“I know that this is going to be your headline, but the roads are not that bad,” he noted.
He further explained that but for funding challenges, most road projects would have been long completed.
