FULL LIST: 20 roads billed for construction in 2018 budget

Twenty new road construction projects across the country will cost an estimated N13.4 billion, the 2018 budget document has shown.

The federal government allocated a total of N555.99bn to the ministry of power, works and housing, the highest in the budget.

Out of that amount, N295bn has been earmarked for key capital projects, to fund road construction, expansion and maintenance across the country.

Of the twenty new roads, N1.4bn was set aside for reconstructing the second phase of Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

The proposed funding for the expansion of Abuja-Kefffi dual carriageway and dualisation of Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi road in Nasarawa and Benue states is N2.5 billion, while N1.35 billion is allocated for the rehabilitation of Gombe-Biu road in Gombe and Borno states.

Giving priority to the ministry in this year’s budget has been touted as a welcome development owing to the yawning infrastructural dearth the country is battling with.

In October, the ministry “received” proceeds from Sukuk bonds subscription worth N100 billion to fund repairs of 25 key economic road projects across the six geo-political zones of the country.

While appearing before the senate committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, said the N100 billion sourced through the Sukuk bond was yet to be released.

He credited the delay to conditions linked to the fund, saying the ministry will “do something” about the road projects in view of the high traffic usually recorded at the end of the year.

Fashola had also said the worst roads in the country were located in the south-south and south-east geopolitical zones.

Below is a list of 20 new road construction projects, as outlined in the appropriation bill.