Federal Roads: FG will pay states only if … — Fashola

Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing

Mr Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing
The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN, said on Thursday that states would be reimbursed for repairs on federal roads, only if they followed due process.

Fashola said this during in Ado-Ekiti during a working visit to Ekiti State.

He said that the Federal Government was not averse to anyone working on its roads, especially for repairs or reconstruction purposes, but insisted that due process must be followed in such interventions.

He commended Governor Ayo Fayose over the execution of some projects by his administration.

Such projects included the first-ever flyover in Ado-Ekiti, the New Kings Market and the conversion of the Ado Ekiti-Ikere road into a dual carriage way, among others.

The minister, led by the governor to inspect some of the projects, said the collaboration between Ekiti and the Federal Government was the type expected from other states.

“We saw all the projects being executed by the state government; this is the kind of collaboration that the Federal Government welcomes.

“What is important is how much service ‎we deliver to the people we are to serve. Of course roads are shared among the tiers of government, but what is important is the service to the people.

“In the area of housing, the state ought to lead, but there is nothing wrong with the Federal Government coming to support.

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“It will create job opportunities for different categories of people and it will boost the local economy too.”

Asked when the Federal Government would begin to reimburse the states for federal road projects, Fashola insisted that due process must be followed before anything else.

Earlier, during a courtesy call on Fayose at the Government House, ‎the governor expressed confidence that the Federal Government would fix some of the roads linking Ekiti to other states.

Fayose also commended the minister for taking time to travel by road in order to assess the condition.

He noted that if such decisive steps had been taken earlier, there would have been more infrastructural development in the state.

He called for speedy repair of the bad roads and promised to channel funds recovered from the Federal Government to roads in other communities in the state.

Earlier, the minister said engineering designs had been completed on the Ado-Igede-Aramoko-Itawure and Ado-Akure roads.

He said the contractors were expected to move to site as soon as the 2017 budget was passed.

Fashola said that the Buhari administration was committed to redeeming the expenses incurred by state governments on federal roads and commended Ekiti Government for being proactive in this regard.

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