Deplorable Roads: House Committee Decries Low Financial Appropriation to FERMA

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Road Emergency Management Agency (FERMA), Hon. Aderemi Abbas Hussein, yesterday said the low financial appropriation of 10 per cent of the national budget to the agency has hindered the agency of performing its functions effectively.

Hussein therefore said such development has led to deplorable conditions of the nation’s roads in the country.

Hon. Hussein stated this in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on the sideline of the oversight visit of the committee to Ilorin.

Hussein, who represents Ido/Ibarapa East federal constituency of Oyo state in the National Assembly, said that FERMA used to be one of the reliable agencies of government but inadequate funding has hindered its functions effectively.

He said: “Before now, FERMA used to be one of the reliable agencies of government where people have hope on the kind of work that they were doing.

“At its inception, FERMA was properly funded. Engineers were always at work and contractors were equally fully engaged and people were doing quality work that minimized deterioration of roads in our states across the country.

“But this time around, if you see the extent of damages or deterioration that we have in all our roads infrastructure across the country, it is evident that what they have as a current amount of money that they are using on a yearly basis will not be able to solve their problem.

“This has been what almost everybody in the ministry, in the agency, have been crying about. Even those who are not even engineers, road users, everybody knows that FERMA needed to be supported in order for them to do more”.

Hussein, who said that it is part of the responsibility of the committee to go around to see that all the money appropriated for FERMA for the purpose of road maintenance was spent according to the purpose on which they were approved, added that the committee was satisfied with volume of work done in line with 2024 approvals.

His words: “After our meetings with the federal road maintenance engineers, the briefs that we received from the directors and the state engineers in charge, we are quite pleased with the volume of work they have done in line with our 2024 approvals.

 “Because, take for instance, 21 projects were awarded in the South West 1, and the total of that 21 projects were fully completed. So, when you look at the job that has been done in line with what has been awarded, you really need to appreciate the team, that they have actually done what is expected of them.

“But, as the member of the committee on FERMA, it is not enough for us to believe that what has been done in documentation, or that has been seen in that documentation, is believed to have been carried out as it is expected of it.

“That is why we are going round, to reconcile what we have been told and has been done on paper to what is really on ground, and it is in the light of that that we are here”.

He said that eight roads are to be done in Kwara State, adding that only five have been completed, while three are ongoing.

“So, out of the three that are ongoing, one of them (9-kilometer Offa Garage roundabout to College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies road) is where we are right now.

“And that is why I was curious to see the area that has been done, and the area that has not been done, so that we will be able to reconcile the two to the bill of quantities that we are looking as our template for the job”, he said.

The chairman, House committee on FERMA said that President Bola Tinubu, with his Renewed Hope Agenda, especially as part of his primary objective in the area of road infrastructure, is determined to make all roads motorable across the country.

“When you look at what he has invested, especially when you look at our current appropriation, you will see that he has a deliberate intention to see that all roads across the country are motorable.

“And not only that, he is equally extending his activities into the construction of a lot of legacy projects to complement the existing projects that have been done, so that life will be much more comfortable for our people in the course of their travelling exercises”.

Also speaking, the FERMA zonal leader for South West, Engineer Babatunde Aina, earlier said that the issue of funding is a major problem of the agency.

He said: “For example, we have a road of about 9 kilometers, but the appropriation can only address critical sections. That does not mean that there are no sections that are bad.

“We have potholes all around, but we have to avoid those ones because of the amount that is being allocated.

“So, we address only critical sections, hoping that when the next budgetary allocation comes in, and this road is also mentioned for appropriation, we can also continue the project”.