FG FORBIDS STATES FROM GETTING INVOLVED WITH HORRIBLE FEDERAL ROADS

States are not permitted to intervene on federally owned highways, regardless of how terrible they are maintained.

Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing, made this statement while outlining the events of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting that took place on Wednesday at the State House in Abuja under the chairmanship of President Muhammadu Buhari.

However, he conveyed the sense that council may have approved the decision for states to cease such involvement as a result of demands made by states for refunds following intervention.

However, FEC allowed the reimbursement of three states, Kebbi, Taraba, and Yobe, for the money used to rehabilitate federal highways within their borders, despite the fact that such contracts were issued before the current administration took office.

However, FEC allowed the reimbursement of three states, Kebbi, Taraba, and Yobe, for the money used to rehabilitate federal highways within their borders, despite the fact that such contracts were issued before the current administration took office.

The current presidential instruction comes at a time when many federal roads are in poor condition across the nation, in part because of the rainy seasons and the heavy duty trucks that use those roads.

Beyond this instruction, Fashola claimed a contract was granted to Strabic Construction Company for the rehabilitation of the Mushin-NNPC-Apapa-Oshodi route, the road that passes through Isolo and leads to Ejigbo, for the price of N11,166,270,197 85, with a 20-month completion window.

"Council accepted the report and proposal of a Council committee set up by the president to respond to demands by state governments for refunds on intervention made earlier before this administration on federal highways," he added in reference to the ban.

Fashola added that the president then issued the order prohibiting further state interference with federal highways.

"Some of them had already been completed before this administration's tenure. So Kebbi, Yobe, and Taraba were the three states. I believe that on June 22nd, I announced that Yobe's claims for N18.663 billion had been approved. That left the residents of the states of Kebbi and Taraba. In light of this, the council authorized N2.470 billion for the Kebbi State and N6.706 billion for Kebbi State and N2.470 billion for Taraba State.