Date Published: 12/30/09

Dear Sir,

The Paltry N71b for federal roads

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) through the Minister of Information and Communication, Professor Dora Akunyili, wasted time explaining to the media (after one of their weekly meetings in November 2009) that the federal government has, in the 2010 Annual Budget, earmarked N71billion for construction and maintenance of federal roads in the 36 States and Abuja.

I believe they were joking because Akwa Ibom State alone had spent the sum of N80billion in the last 24 months on Federal roads within the State. If this is the case, one considers the N71billion in the 2010 Federal Budget as paltry for such very important but neglected sector. Akwa Ibom  Governor Godswill Akpabio had for the umpteenth time said in the media that he had spent over N80billion on Federal roads within his State yet nobody has asked if he was just joking or not. If Akwa Ibom, which has inconsequential length of federal roads spent such sum and still apologized on behalf of the federal government for bad roads experienced by the Nigerian Bar Association members that visited the State on a conference recently, then on which federal roads did he spend the N80billion? This figure is apart from N110billion he said was spent on Akwa Ibom State-owned roads.

It seems the media is not even asking the State governors questions when they claim certain things. Something must give in.  It is either that the federal government goes back to drawing board and increase substantially its budgetary allocation of N71billion meant for construction and maintenance of federal roads in the 36 States and Abuja or Akpabio explains to the satisfaction of the nation if he actually spent the kind of amount he claimed. This is to avoid a situation where the N80billion would be reimbursed to Akwa Ibom by the Federal government after ‘certification’, only to be shared privately among few individuals.

Garba Salem, 298 Apapa Rd, Ijora Lagos