Fashola made the call in Abuja on Wednesday when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Works to defend the Ministry’s 2021 budget proposal.

Fashola said the call for improved funding was to enable the Ministry to make significant impact on improvement of Federal road networks, boost economic activities and create jobs.

According to him, the major challenge to the ministry’s efforts toward the timely completion of projects is inadequate budgetary provisions and releases for projects to sustain annual cash-flow requirement levels.

He, however, noted that the additional funding from the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) and Sukuk Bond had helped to bring some funding to road projects.

“The total sum of N276 billion provided for highway projects in 2021 budget proposal is an improvement over the 2020 amended provision of about N154.2 billion.

“But it is still inadequate to address the funding challenges of highway projects where the year 2021 project cash flow requirement is estimated at about N1.2 trillion.”

Fashola said the ministry was currently undertaking a total of 711 highway projects at a total contract sum of N6.26 trillion, noting that the projects were spread across the six geo-political zones of the country.

He said the ongoing projects were categorised under the highway projects financed with Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) and highway projects financed with the Sovereign Sukuk Fund.

Under the Sukuk fund, Fashola said the ministry was currently financing 44 roads and bridge projects using the 2020 Sovereign Sukuk issuance of N162.56 billion.

Fashola said the roads were mainly dual carriageways on the major arterial routes A1 to A9 on the federal road network.

According to him, other categories of the ongoing projects also include the highway projects financed under tax credit and highway projects funded from multilateral loans.

For roads financed via multilateral projects, Fashola said Federal Government contributes counterpart funding to the projects.

He, however, said that the focus of the 2021 budget proposal of the ministry remained the completion of some priority road projects especially those on route A1 to A9.

“These are roads and bridges that lead to ports and major agricultural hubs across the six geo-political zones.”

He said the reason to prioritise construction of some roads in 2021 budget was hinged on the wide disparity between the liabilities in unpaid certification of N392.02 billion and budgetary provisions over the years.

According to him, N435 billion was proposed for the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and its parastatals for capital, personnel and overhead estimates in 2021 Appropriation Bill.

Earlier, Chairman , Senate Committee on Works, Sen. Adamu Alerio, (APC Kebbi), in his remarks said the budget proposal for capital projects of the ministry was almost the highest among other ministries.

He, however, said it was a drop in the ocean given the high volume of projects that required funding.

Alerio said there was need to source for more funds from other sources such as sovereign wealth fund, pensions fund among other to finance infrastructure in the country.

He said that the committee had on its oversight inspected some road projects across the country, noting that some contractors had stopped work because of paucity of funds.

He said there was also need to give priority to construction of some roads given their economic impact to the nation.

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Our correspondent reports that the minister climbed through the intricate scaffold stairway from ground zero to see repair works under the flyover bridge during inspection on Thursday.

After climbing down, the minister explained to reporters that the bridge deck had shifted and the bearings cracked and was hanging dangerously, hence its emergency closure to prevent accidents.

He explained how jerks were used to lift and fit new bearings and expansion joints to do the concrete works, as well as the technology behind some of the operations,

“Very soon we should be able to reopen the Alaka end of the bridge, I don’t want to hurry them, they think it is going to be pretty soon, we have waited this long.

“I think common sense indicates that that it would be worth it to wait so that we do not come back and redo the work.

“So, let us just give it time for the concrete to cure, let them finish, install the expansion joints and in a couple of weeks no more.

“I should expect that this should be done then we will move our work to Alaka bound side because the bearings are gone we don’t want it to get to this near emergency situation before we fix it,’’ he said.

Fashola stressed that the government was committed to the rehabilitation of the entire length of the Eko Bridge as approval had been given by the Federal Executive Council to do various repairs and installations including lighting.

He added that that over 50 bridges were currently undergoing various forms of rehabilitation works across the country in line with the government’s national infrastructure maintenance programme.

Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola while making his presentation said the project was 83 per cent completed and would be delivered on schedule this October.

“After fixing the expansion joint, we will put the concrete and the bridge will be opened to traffic this month.

“Right now the bridge is 83 per cent completed, the only outstanding work is the fixing of the expansion joints.

“These are the new expansion joints that we are going to fix, so we are using this rubber to clamp it down,’’ he said.

Mr Kaadi Ghassan, project manager, Buildwell Plants and Equipment Industries Ltd., contractors of the project said drainage pipes were included to curb flooding on the bridge.

Conducting the minister through used and stored equipment, and also giving technical details Ghassan explained measures being adopted to speed up construction without compromising quality.

“The expansion joints will be opened 12 cm, there is one drum here too that was totally damaged,’’ he said.

reports that the Federal Government on March 10 shut the Alaka Bridge linking Eko Bridge in Lagos for emergency repairs to prevent its total collapse.

Officials from both Lagos State and Federal Ministry of Works and their Transportation counterparts converged on the bridge at about 9:15 p.m. to take immediate decision for the closure of the threatened bridge.

Thereafter, Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu inspected the bridge after an early morning news briefing to usher in emergency rehabilitation of the bridge.

However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic delayed importation of components needed for the repairs.

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Fashola while inspecting the bridge also called for more understanding saying that the planned three days total closure was important for completion and delivery of a safe and strong bridge for use.

He said that from midnight of Friday to midnight of Sunday the bridge would be totally shut for important repairs to make the bridge last, but that the former normal diversions would return on Monday when the bridge would be reopened to partial traffic diversion.

He said that the bridge was one of the 50 nationwide, undergoing repairs in line with the national infrastructure maintenance programme and the national infrastructure renewal and expansion program of the Buhari administration.

“We have seen joints and bearings replacement at different stages. We have seen the ones that are being freshly drilled to be removed and replaced.

“We have seen the ones that have been replaced and ready to receive concrete.

“We have seen the ones that are being dirt sprayed to clean it up completely to ensure that when the concrete is put, there will be binding. We are now at the last one that has been dirt sprayed and ready to take concrete.

“All the work we have done will not make sense if we don’t pour this concrete and this is why regrettably we have to close this section of the bridge,” he said.

He explained the process of repairs stating that all efforts would be a waste without the most critical stage needing the three days closure for the concrete to properly ‘cure’.

“By Monday the diversions that you are used to will return, our work has not finished, we are going to finish this programme in January next year.

“It is is now important to protect the sections that have been finished so that our tolerance, our forbearance would not have been in vain so that when the work is done we will have almost a new bridge that will last very long, ” he said.

He said that more closures should be expected stating that joints were being done in phases to minimise the impact of gridlock.

The Minister stressed that the effort was worth the wait as the government tried to minimise the impact of gridlock.

Also, the Lagos State Commissioner for Works, Mr Frederick Oladeinde said during the three days closure Eko and Carter bridges would be open, as well as Murtala Mohammed Way through Oyingbo for those trying to link the Island.

He said that adequate Lagos State Traffic Management Authority staff had been adequately deployed to ensure free flow of traffic.

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos Mr Olukayode Popoola explained the need to close the lane for three expansion joints sections to be cast between Adeniji Adele within 48 hours to set.

“From Adeniji Adele to Adekunle is the section we are closing, that is a distance of about 3.5 kilometers in length, so people can still use Adeniji Adele, they can also as well use Adekunle Ramp but you cannot connect to the Island neither can you connect to the mainland through the Third Mainland Bridge within that 48 hours of the total closure of the bridge,’’ he said.

Also, Mr Paulo Prono, Executive Director, Borini Prono explained technical details as well as technological procedures of ongoing repairs, while conducting the minister through surface and underneath constructions.

He also explained the logistics as well as the reason for working in phases on different stretches of the bridge.

It would be recalled that the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, which was going through series of repairs, was partially shut on July 24 for another round of rehabilitation works.

The repair is expected to last for six months with the construction divided into two phases of three months on each carriageway, starting with the Oworonsoki bound carriageway.

Traffic was partially diverted on a stretch of 3.5km where construction is ongoing between Adeniji Adeniji Ramp and Ebute Meta, while different time belts were allotted for traffic diversions on the bridge.

However, the Federal Government on Wednesday announced a three days total shut down of the bridge for special repairs.

The 11.8km bridge is the longest of the three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the Mainland.

The bridge starts from Oworonshoki, which is linked to the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on Lagos Island.

Constructed in 1990, the bridge was adjudged as the longest in Africa until 1996 when the Oct. 6 Bridge in Cairo, Egypt was completed.

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He made the statement at the virtual commemoration of the 2020 World Habitat Day (WHD) celebration held in Abuja.

It had the theme: “Housing for all: A better Urban Future”.

Fashola’s remarks were conveyed in a statement signed by Mrs Boade Akinola, Director of Press in the ministry, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent on Tuesday in Abuja.

It quoted Fashola as acknowledging the adverse effect of the Coronavirus pandemic, while also reeling out activities to improve access to affordable housing, mobility, sanitation, jobs and socio economic opportunities, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

It said that the approach for implementing the steps was multifaceted, from house refurbishment loans to mortgages, with reduced service conditions and direct housing construction.

It further quoted Fashola as adding that improved speed of titling and issuance of documents would unlock unused properties and accelerate advocacy for reduced rent demands.

It said he also emphasised that a people-centred approach was key to addressing housing issues which would be the basis for socio-economic vibrancy of cities.

It also quoted Fashola as saying that government was committed to delivering “Housing that is obtainable, healthy, inclusive and adequate, safe and affordable as this was the key to sustainable and transformation of societies and communities”.

It quoted the minister as assuring Nigerians of the commitment to realising the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan while strengthening the partnership with the private sector and other government agencies at all levels, to effectively deliver on the mandate.

Speaking earlier, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Ernest Umakhihe, said that the WHD was established in 1985 by the UN General Assembly through Resolution 40/202 of 17 December, 1985 and was first celebrated in 1986.

He said that the first Monday of every October was recognised as a day set aside to focus on the state of human settlements and the basic rights for all for adequate shelter.

He further said that the WHD was to remind all that everyone is responsible for the habitat of the present and future generations.

Umakhihe said the celebration would wrap up with the observance of the World Cities Day on October 31, with the Focal Theme: Better Cities, Better Life and a Sub-Theme: Valuing Our Communities and Cities.

The central celebration is currently ongoing in Surabaya, Indonesia, he added.

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In a Press Release signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Hakeem Bello, the minister said he was worried that the National Assembly spokespersons failed to address the fundamental points about development-hindering whimsical cuts in the allocations to several vital projects under the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing as well as other ministries.

Mr. Fashola had, in a recent interview while acknowledging that legislators could contribute to budget making, disagreed with the practice where the legislative arm of government unilaterally alters the budget after putting members of the Executive through Budget Defence Sessions and Committee Hearings to the extent that some of the projects proposed would have become materially altered.

While acknowledging the need for legislative input from the representatives of the people to bring forward their developmental aspirations before and during the budget production process, the minister had observed that it amounted to a waste of tax payers money and an unnecessary distortion of orderly planning and development for all sections of the country, for lawmakers to unilaterally insert items not under the Exclusive or Concurrent lists of the Constitution like boreholes and streetlights after putting Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAS, through the process of budget defence.

Specifically with regards to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Fashola listed the Lagos- Ibadan Expressway, the Bodo-Bonny road, the Kano-Maiduguri road, the Second Niger Bridge and the long drawn Mambilla Hydropower Project among others as those that the National Assembly materially altered the allocations in favour of scores of boreholes and primary health care centres which were never discussed during the Ministerial Budget Defence before Parliament.

In their responses, both the spokespersons of the Senate and the House of Representatives accused the minister of spreading “Half-Truths” and making “Fallacious “ statements because he (Fashola) should have known that they only interfered with projects that had concession agreements and private sector funding components. They also accused the minister of wanting to hold on to such projects in order that he may continue to award contracts.

However, while dismissing the allegations in the course of an official trip outside the country, Mr. Fashola said it was sad that the lawmakers would resort to name calling even without understanding the facts of what they were getting into. Taking the projects which the lawmakers chose to focus on one after the other, the minister insisted that there is no subsisting concession agreement on the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway adding that what the Infrastructure Construction Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has is a financing agreement from a consortium of banks which is like a loan that still has to be paid back through budgetary provisions.

There is no fallacy or half truth in the allegation that the budgets were reduced, he said. The spokespersons admitted this much and now sought to rationalise it by a concession or financing arrangement that has failed to build the road since 2006. The biggest momentum seen on the road was in 2016, Mr. Fashola added.

In the case of the Second Niger Bridge where one of the spokespersons alleged that the provision in 2016 budget was not spent and had to be returned, Mr. Fashola said that this displays very stark and worrisome gaps in knowledge of the spokesperson about the budget process he was addressing.

According to him, a budget is not cash. It is an approval of estimates of expenditure to be financed by cash from the Ministry of Finance.

“The Ministry of Finance has not yet released any cash for the Second Niger Bridge, so no money was returned.”

“Three phases of Early Works of piling and foundation was approved and financed by the previous government in the hope that a concession will finally be issued, which has not happened because concessionaires have not been able to raise finance.

“The continuation of Early Works IV could not start in May 2016 when the budget was passed because of high water level in the River Niger in the rainy season.

“The contract was only approved by the Federal Executive Council in the first quarter of 2017 and the contractor is awaiting payment.”

Dismissing the allegation that the works mnistry under him was holding on to projects that could be funded through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) so that he could award contracts as a tissue of lies, the minister said from Day One of his assumption of office, he made it clear publicly and privately that his priority would be to finish as many of the several hundreds of projects that his ministry inherited which had not been funded for close to three years.

According to Mr. Fashola, if the spokesperson was in tune with the Public Procurement Law which the National Assembly passed, he would realise that the minister has no unilateral power to award such contracts whose values are in billions of Naira, adding that all the new projects presented to the Federal Executive Council for approval were either federal roads requested by state governments or those put in the budget by the legislators to service their constituencies.

Mr. Fashola stated that the focus on contracts by the spokesperson is probably a Freudian slip that reveals his mindset and interests; when indeed he should be focused on developmental projects that strengthen the economy, which is the focus of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan endorsed by the legislature.

Also responding to the issues that the budget for the Mambila Power Project was slashed because it contained a “whooping N17 billion” for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the minister said there was indeed a mis-description of that particular Expenditure Head which could have happened during the classification of so many thousands of budget heads in the budget estimates.

According to him, what was described as a Budget Head for EIA was actually the nation’s counterpart funding to the China- EXIM loan to fund the building of the Mambila Project, adding that this was brought to his attention only after it had been slashed and that if the intention was not to slash arbitrarily it should have been brought to his attention to explain.

“At a joint meeting convened at the instance of the Budget Minister when I complained that the budget was slashed, the issue of EIA was brought to my attention and I explained what it was meant for,” Mr. Fashola said.

On the issue of the N20 billion provision in the Ministry’s Budget which the spokesperson alleged that the minister failed to give details of, Mr. Fashola said the spokesperson is hiding behind a finger.

The minister explained that it was a very basic principle of good planning to make provision for unforeseen contingencies; adding that in the 2016 budget , a similar provision enabled the ministry to respond to the failures of the Tamburawa Bridge in Sokoto, the Ijora Bridge in Lagos and the Gada Hudu Bridge in Koto Karfe along the Abuja – Lokoja Highway. Similarly, the ministry was able to pay N1 billion to the contractor handling the Suleja to Minna road.

The recent failures caused by flooding along Tegina-Mokwa-Jebba road and Tatabu in Niger State could not have been provided because they were not foreseen and there may be more. “This is what good planning is about,” Mr. Fashola said.

Noting that the Senate spokesperson missed the point in the haste to cast aspersions on him because he was not at the meetings he was speaking about, Mr. Fashola said he would have expected a more sober approach to the matter.

“In any event, allegations of half truth is only a flawed response to the constitutional and developmental issues that have plagued Nigeria from 1999 about how to budget for the critical infrastructure in Nigeria. It shows the conflict between the Executive that wants to build big Federal Highways; Bridges ; Power Plants; Rail; and Dams on one hand and Parliament that wants to do small things like bore holes , health centres , street lights and supplying grinding machines ,” he said.

According to the minister, being an institutional and not a personal issue, it won’t be out of place to seek a resolution of the conflict at the Supreme Court in order to protect the country’s future, because it is a clear conflict about how best to serve the people.

“As long as budgets planned to deliver life changing infrastructure are cut into small pieces, Nigeria will continue to have small projects that are not life changing, and big projects that have not been completed in 17 years . If a project would cost N15 billion and the contractor gets only a fraction of that, then things won’t move. Success should be defined by how many projects an administration is able to complete or set on the path of irreversible completion and not how many poorly funded contracts are awarded,” he said.

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President Muhammadu Buhari, will officially on Wednesday, November 11, inaugurate a new Federal Executive Council.

President Muhammadu Buhari

The Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Femi Adesina confirmed this in a statement on Sunday.

He said the ministers-designate would take their oaths of office in the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, before the commencement of the inaugural session of the council.

“The swearing-in ceremony would begin promptly at 10:00 hours and the ministers-designate are expected to be seated in the Council Chambers by 09:30 hours at the latest. Each minister-designate can only be accompanied to the swearing-in ceremony by a maximum of two guests”, Mr Adesina said.

The statement, however, added that President Buhari would on Monday at the Presidential Villa, preside over the swearing-in of Professor Mahmood Yakubu as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and five others as National Commissioners of INEC.

The swearing-in of Professor Yakubu, Mrs Amina Zakari, Mr Solomon Adedeji Soyebi, Professor Antonia Okoosi-Simbine, Dr Muhammed Mustafa Lecky and Baba Arfo is scheduled for 11:00 hours in the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa.

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Earlier on Wednesday, Mr. Buhari withdrew the nomination of a former deputy governor of Niger State, Ahmed Ibeto, while the senate deferred the screening of a former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi and Adebayo Shittu of Oyo State to Thursday.

The Senate said it deferred Mr. Amaechi’s screening to allow the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Ethics submit its reports on the petitions filed against the former governor.

Shittu’s screening was postponed to enable the senators rest.

At the end of the two-day exercise, the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, called for the confirmation or otherwise of the ministerial nominees who appeared for screening.

Lawmakers unanimously confirmed all nominees except Lai Mohammed, the spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Mohammed was cleared after some “nay” shouts from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Below is the List of the Ministers-Designate

1. Udoma Udo Udoma
2. Kayode Fayemi
3. Audu Ogbeh
4. Ogbonnaya Onuh
5. Dr Osagie Ehenere
6. Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau
7. Lai Mohammed
8. Amina Ibrahim Mohammed
9. Engr Suleiman Adamu
10. Ibrahim Usman Jibrin
11. Babatunde Raji Fashola
12. Emmanuel Ibe Kachukwu
13. Abubakar Malami
14. Dr Chris Ngige
15. Aisha Jummai Alhassan
16. Solomon Dalong
17. Kemi Adeosun
18. Hadi Sirika

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Senator Bukola Saraki, President of the Nigeria Senate on Tuesday read out the names of 21 nominees sent to the House by President Muhammadu Buhari for appointment as Ministers.

The names on the list are: Babatunde Raji Fashola, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Kayode Fayemi, Chris Ngige, Lai Mohammed, Udoma Udo Udoma, Abubakar Malami, Ogbonnaya Onu, Aisha Alhassan, Abdulrahman Dambazzau, Kemi Adeosun.

Others are Hadi Sirika, Adebayo Shittu, Solomon Dalong, Audu Ogbeh, Amina Ibrahim, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Suleiman Adamu, and Ibrahim Usman Jubril.

Saraki read the much ‘anticipated’ list during the plenary session today.

The leader of the opposition, PDP, Godswill Akpabio asked the Senate President when the remaining list will be sent, then Bukola said it be at the discretion of the President.

Saraki told his colleagues, “the screening will begin on Tuesday to allow for proper documentation.”

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