2025 Budget Defence: All Nigerian roads can be better with improved funding for FERMA – Minister

The Minister of State, Works, Mohammad Bello Goronyo, has decried the poor budgetary allocation and released it to the Federal Emergency Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA.

He described amounts allocated for road maintenance as grossly inadequate considering the enormous responsibility which the maintainance of Nigeria’s road infrastructure cutting across the 36 states of the federation including Abuja represents.

Goronyo said this while defending the FERMA’s 2025 budget before the Senate Committee on FERMA, in Abuja, yesterday.

He explains that N96. 7 billion was allocated to the road maintaince agency in the 2024 Appropriation Act of 2024 and amount which was later increased to N103.3 billion following President Bola Tinubu’s intervention.

Goronyo however expressed sadness that of this sum, only N41. 282 billion was released from the office of the Accountant General of the Federation to the Agency out of which the sum of N40.287 has been fully expended on its operations during the year under review.

While appealing to the Senate committee for a favourable consideration of the N64.88bn proposed in the 2025 budget, the minister explained that it would go a long way in the maintenance of major public roads a number of which are in a deplorable state.

For the 2025 fiscal year, FERMA proposed a budget of N64. 88 billion, comprising N4.9 billion for personnel costs, N33. 468 billion for overhead costs, and N26. 487 billion for capital costs.

He said, “This budget prioritizes major trunk A roads within the six geopolitical zones, aligning with Mr. President’s development and economic recovery objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda.”

Goronyo recalled that during an oversight visit of the Senate Committee on FERMA in March last year, members agreed that what agency was grossly under funded.

According to him, an assessment carried out by a team of experts indicated that it would require over N700 billion to carry out the task of maintaining Federal Roads nationwide.

He, however said, “ I want to implore this esteemed Committee to support the Agency to ensure the sustainability of road infrastructure maintenance.

“The benefits of increased financial support will ensure scaling up preventive maintenance, and promoting sustainable road maintenance practices”.

In his opening remarks earlier, the Chairman Senate Committee on FERMA, Senator Babangida Husaini said the Committee was “taken aback” when it saw what was allocated for FERMA’s operations.

He wondered why so much attention was being paid to the construction of new roads at the expense of the maintenance of existing ones which are critical for the nation’s development.

Hussaini stressed that Nigerians across board were yearning for the repairs and maintenance of the existing roads to facilitate the movements of humans, goods and services.

He said, “If we agree that roads are enablers of growth and development then there must be a need to interface with all stakeholders to find lasting solutions to this perennial issue of poor funding.”

Also speaking during the event, the Managing Director/ CEO of FERMA, Engr. Agbasi Chukwuemeka, explained the performance of the 2024 budget to the Committee.

He gave details of the performance of the agency’s 2024 budget in line with its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which include, the length of roads maintained, the area of portholes patched, number of portholes washed out and reinstated, the number of bridges reinstated and the number of direct and indirect jobs created.

Engr. Chukwuemeka listed some of the challenges facing the agency to include: inadequate budgetary allocation, distressed aged base Pavement, damages and vandalisation of structure, pronounced climate change issues or adverse weather conditions, need to upscale the Human Resource Department to conform with modern trends in road management.