Nigeria requires about N3 trillion to tackle the massive road infrastructure deficit in the nation, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, disclosed on Monday, November 7.
COREN President, Mr Kasim Ali, made this known in Abuja at the Public Hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Works.
The hearing was on the repeal of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency Act 2002 and on Federal Roads Authority Bill, 2016 and National Roads Fund Establishment Bill.
Ali, who expressed support for the bills, said that the current institutional framework for the management and funding of roads in Nigeria was outdated, inappropriate and needed to be reformed.
He stressed the need for sustainable funding mechanism of road projects in the country for improved autonomy in road management.
He said: “Establishment of the National Roads Fund will be repository for revenues accruing from road-user related charges for financing, development, rehabilitation and maintenance.
“Other activities related to the provision of national roads will promote an effective road management system in Nigeria.”
In his presentation, Minister of Works, Lands and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, lauded the bills’ initiative.
The minister called for consolidation of the five legislative frameworks regulating the road sectors into one, stressing that multiple laws and regulatory agencies would discourage investors.
