The Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola has revealed that the Federal Government is indebted to highway Contractors up to the sum of roughly N10.4trillion while another N765 billion is owed for unpaid executed projects.
The Minister who was in the House of Representatives to defend his Ministry’s N515.9 billion for 2022 budget said the outstanding debts
have been a major challenge to the development of highways in the country.
Fashola said the prioritization of funding for ongoing critical projects in the 2023 budget has become imperative in order to make appreciable impact.
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He said the focus of the 2023 budget proposal of the Ministry is on the completion of some priority road projects particularly roads and bridges that lead to the ports and major agricultural hubs to aid the ease of doing business and stimulate the economy.
The Minister said 20 major highway projects costing N444.3 million and covering a total length of 379.677km have so far been completed in 2022 and ready for commission.
The lawmakers did not question or raise any observations to the presentation made by the Minister.
(Editor, Omor Bazuaye)
