Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Matthew Kolawole has led members of the House Committee on Works and Infrastructure on a courtesy visit to the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN in his office in Abuja to have an interface on the bad state of federal roads in the state.
This is sequel to the resolution of Kogi State House of Assembly on the deplorable state of federal roads in Kogi State which has hindered smooth movement of goods and services, constituted risk to lives due to the activities of criminals that take advantage of bad spots on the roads and loss of properties occasioned by accident.
The Speaker commended the quick response of the Honourable Minister, for granting them audience within two weeks of the House resolution.
He said despite the efforts of Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration to fix some of the federal roads, they still find it expedient to call on the federal government to come to their aid in fixing the federal roads across the state.
He said the deplorable state of the federal roads in the three senatorial districts of the state are worrisome and have caused a lots of havoc to motorists on those routes, noted that Kogi State is bordered by nine states including the FCT, centrally located within the country and a major link between north and southern region; he appealed to the Honourable Minister for quick intervention.
He noted that just yesterday the Kabba-Obajana – Lokoja road close to Apata community, carved in causing traffic jams and blockage for commuters using the route, stressing that it was so bad that the Federal Road Safe Corps had to advise those using the route to use alternative roads, like the Okene – Lokoja routes that is also in need of attention.
Responding, Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN commended the Speaker and House Committee members for the visit, noting that he got their resolution two weeks ago and he felt there is need for them to have the interface which happened yesterday.
He said the federal government has committed huge resources on road construction, maintenance and rehabilitation over the years, noting that the ministry is currently working on 14 federal roads that either link Kogi state or passes through, while 17 special interventions are also ongoing with the repairs of bridges.
He said it is the ministry’s goal to fix all the federal roads in the country at once but due to the limitations of resources, and other needs that are also important to human existence.
He said as a ministry they don’t have power to determine how to appropriate money, saying it is whatever the national assembly approves for them to spend that they will use.
He noted that he reminded Kogi State federal lawmakers led by Senator Smart Adeyemi when they visited him recently on the same subject matters, stressing that as the representatives of the people at the state level, it will be good if they can reach out to their neighboring states to have a consensus on roads they want the ministry to concentrate fund on, saying with that meaningful works can be seen on some of the ongoing road works.
He said because all constituencies want their own share of projects within a space of time, the resources available become small compared to the enormous task to be accomplished with the same resources, urging them to talk to their colleagues in the national assembly, so that more can be done as soon as the resources are available.
He said because of the limited resources available the ministry decided to reach an understanding with companies like Dangote and they were able to achieve the 49kilometers concrete road of Obajana – Kabba road and the ministry has also gone ahead to approve the reconstruction of same concrete road from Kabba to the boundary between Kogi and Ekiti state which will also be undertaking by Dangote company.
He said he is hopeful, things will get better by the day as the current administration led by President Muhammad Buhari is committed to infrastructure renewal which was necessitated borrowing to finance most of the ongoing critical projects across the country.
Other members on the visit include Hon. Murtar Bajeh, Chief Whip, Hon. Edoko Ododo Moses, Hon. Kilani Olushola Olumo, Chairman House Committee, Hon. Musa Jimoh, Hon. Hilarious Collins Musa, Hon. Aderonke Aro, Hon. Usman Ibrahim, Hon. Musa Attacjachi, Hon. Ademola Bello, Hon. AT Lawi, Hon Isah Tenimu
