By Daniel Tyokua
President Bola Tinubu has directed the ministry of works to adopt alternative means of funding for the completion of road projects under Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited tax credit policy.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday, while briefing journalists on the progress of work so far recorded on some roads in the six geo-political zones of the country.
Umahi said the ministry will not allowed any contractor to play game with the ongoing federal government road projects.
Recall that the NNPCL’s road projects scheme had been approved by the past administration in 2023, to invest N1.9 trillion in reconstruction of 44 federal roads under the tax credit policy.
The AUTHORITY report that the initiative fell under the federal government Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment tax credit policy.
Umahi revealed that a total sum of N3 trillion is needed to fund the completion of all road projects ongoing under the scheme, saying no project under the initiative will be abandoned.
“And for me, he is our President, you know, is a man with a large heart that decided to do that.
“So, now, we have NNPCL stopping the funding of the projects, since from the 1st of August. And so, we tabled the matter in the last FEC meeting on Thursday.
“And Mr. President, sitting as the Chairman of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, directed that we should provide another means of funding the project, and to complete them.
“So, let me announce that Mr. President directed that no NNPCL project should stop, and that alternative funding mechanism will be put in place to do it.”
Umahi noted that, “Like I said, NNPCL projects where we need a total of N3 trillion to have them totally completed. So we have compiled them.
“We are going to make it available to Mr. President on that and any of them that qualifies for PPP, and then we see that the contractor has capacity and has fund.”
Umahi, however warned contractors without capacity to execute contracts of such magnitude to stay away, nothing that the Ministry will not tolerate contractor hoping to play game.
“When we go into the exercise, we not leave the fate of our people in the hands of anybody that wants to play games, playing games to believe that along the line, the federal government will bring money to them, or that they will default, and then they will do call up option, whereby they go to take money from Federal Government.”
He said all the road projects across the country align with the Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda, which priorities reassesing and completing projects.
