The Minister of Power Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola on Monday identified those responsible for bad roads across the country. The Minister while presenting the Ministry's three year scorecard in Abuja blamed the past government for not effectively utilizing earned crude oil revenue to develop road and other infrastructures in the country.
According to him, instead of using government funds to address infrastructural deficits in the country, the past government looted the treasury, leaving the country in a worst state.
“If those who came before us had done their work, we won’t meet bad road. That is the simple truth. We earned $100 per barrel of crude oil for about five years.
“We knew what other countries like Abu Dhabi (UAE), Saudi Arabia did with their own, what did we do with ours? So this is a president and a government that is now trying to do more with less that it has. So give us some time, we will get there,”
He listed projects currently being executed by the Ministry to include the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the second Niger Bridge, Enugu-Port Harcourt road and Jebba-Mokwa way, among others.
He disclosed that in 2016, 277 kilometres of road was constructed, 345km rehabilitated and 17,749 people were employed in the process. He added that in 2017, the FG constructed 488 roads, rehabilitated 256 others and engaged 31,227 persons.
For 2018 till November, the Minister said 497km of road has been constructed, 284 rehabilitated and 30,402 persons employed.
