The Senate, on Wednesday, asked the Federal Government, to allocate N500 million from the Service Wide Vote to the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), for the urgent rehabilitation of roads destroyed by the 2022 floods.
The Senate has also directed that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme should be expanded to cover maintenance of failed sections of Federal roads across the country.
Resolutions of the Senate were sequel to a motion by Senator Gershom Bassey, representing Cross River South.
Presenting the motion, Senator Bassey who noted that this year’s floods were the worst that Nigeria had experienced in decades saying that the rise in water level was more than the 2012 and 2020 episodes, said that the 2022 floods had further worsened the deplorable state of Nigeria’s federal roads, stressing that the devastated roads should be urgently attended to forestall carnages among commuters.
According to him, the justification for the proposed money became imperative against the backdrop that some major inter-state roads were impassable, saying that water had washed off most parts of the roads and bridges creating economic and human security crises.
Bassey who pointed out that road transportation was the major means of transportation in Nigeria since air transportation and others were not within the reach of most Nigerians, stressed that the heavy vehicular and human movements of Nigerians associated with the end of year festivities would be impacted negatively as a result of the deplorable state of roads occasioned by the 2022 flood.
