The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to look outside budgetary provisions to fund the multi-trillion Naira road projects across the country.
Umahi said this while fielding questions from reporters in Abuja during a meeting with contractors on how best to maximise available resources on road construction.
He said it was okay for the president to borrow to fund infrastructure and given the huge task ahead of the federal government which has given the responsibility of fixing the roads countrywide to the ministry of work, extra-budgetary funding would fast-track road construction.
“America is owing largely because it borrows to invest in infrastructure. So, if Mr President is borrowing, it is to invest in infrastructure, the need for the borrowing will be made manifest as far as the Ministry of Works is concerned.
“We would see the need to encourage Mr President to go outside the budgetary appropriation to look for money to give to the Ministry of Works to accomplish some of these tasks.”
The Minister, who told contractors that he was not going to discriminate contract sums between indigenous and foreign contractors, said the federal government expects standardised jobs, therefore quality jobs cannot be restricted to foreign contractors but all contractors engaged by the ministry.
Umahi said the federal government remained committed to improving the economy and has begun working on the challenges of security to revamp the economy.
“There is also a need to improve our productivity and there are a lot of innovations that the President has brought in.
“A lot of ground has been made. Our economy is being revamped, the security situation is better. We are doing a lot of road projects. I assure you that the economy is being revamped
“The down is the darkest part of the night. It will happen and I assure you that it will happen.
The minister said as part of efforts to involve Nigerians on the ownership of the roads as well as hold the contractors given jobs accountable the ministry would publish the jobs and the construction firm.
“We have also directed that all projects whether they are static or ongoing are going to be aggregated and also published.
“By this, it will be very important for the public to know that it is difficult to accomplish most of these roads by mere appropriation.
“I will be ready to defend the cost of any project, I will disaggregate any project in terms of the basic material cost.
“That is why I will not give out a contract I will not defend because am accountable to God and Mr President and the Public.
“It will be very important for the public to know that it is difficult to accomplish most of these roads by mere appropriation. It will be seeking the support of the public so that they can encourage Mr. President to look for funding.
“We will be seeking the robust engagement of the public to encourage Mr. President to look for funding. If we are borrowing to do tangible things which is what Mr. President is doing. It is encouraged.”