By Adetokunbo FAKEYE
Nigeria – Amidst concerns about the state of road infrastructure in the country, the National Assembly, NASS, has raised budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Works from ₦657.3bn in the proposed budget to ₦1.03tn.
This represents ₦373bn or 56.7 per cent increase from the initial figure in the appropriation bill.
It also represents a 65.4 per cent increase from the amount approved in the 2023 budget.
A copy of the approved budget sighted showed that the increase was due to raising of its capital budget from ₦617.9bn to ₦987.3bn.
An analysis of the document also showed that several capital projects were introduced in the approved budget.
The document revealed that: ₦94.83bn was approved for the construction of Lafia road and the dualisation of 9th Mile (Enugu) Otukpo-Makurdi (Keffi Phase Ii) road project.
Also, ₦15bn for the construction of Ota-Idiroko road section one to three, ₦4bn for construction of Iyin-Ilawe Ekiti road Section one to three, ₦22.750bn for the dualisation of the Benin-Ilesha road, ₦10.1bn for the construction of Malando-Garin-Baka-Ngaski-Wara road in Kebbi State and ₦11bn was approved for the construction of Koko-Besse-Zaria-Kala Kala road in Kebbi State.
Similarly, the dualisation of Aba-Ikot Ekpene road is expected to gulp ₦3.75bn, ₦1.21bn will be spent on the repair of the Iganmu bridge, while ₦5.1bn is being earmarked for the provision of culverts and drains at flood-prone areas in South-West.
