800 road contracts awarded under Buhari - Fashola

Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Thursday said the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had awarded 800 contracts over the last six years.

Fashola also said contrary to claims that Nigeria was facing a housing deficit, what was actually a battle was urbanisation challenge resulting in an influx of people from rural areas into urban areas, thus creating a demand and supply challenge.

Fashola said this while speaking during the weekly ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said “The number of contracts awarded is 800, not 800 projects. Sometimes within a road, you might have multiple contracts.

“For instance, from Kano to Maiduguri, there are five different contracts that are unique. If you look at the Lagos-Ibadan Road, there are two contracts there. For Enugu-Port Harcourt there are five contracts there.

“So, each one has a designated supervising project officer; so in that sense, it is right to say we have 800 plus contracts.”

He said, “It’s illogical to say we have a housing deficit when you have empty houses.  No such deficit exists anywhere in the world. FEC approves N120.7bn for roads, patrol vehicles, others.

FG approves N87.5bn contracts for roads, bridge “We are not in a housing crisis. Housing shortages that exist are in urban centres, not in rural areas. The problem is as a result of urbanisation where people move from rural to urban centres.”

The minister said he had liaised with some international development organisations including the African Development Bank and realised that the Nigerian housing deficit statistics were incorrect.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to disregard the 17-million housing deficit claim.

Nigeria’s actual housing deficit could not be established until the country runs another census, he added.