Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola has yesterday said the total amount outstanding for payment to contractors for duly certified and approved works for highway and bridge projects as of October 20, 2021, was N420,583,705,963.48.
According to him, this underscores the government’s efforts towards securing several alternative sources of funding.
He spoke in Abuja when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Works to defend his ministry’s 2022 budget.
He said apart from the pressure of resources to pay, there was the inadequacy of annual budgetary provisions where N100 million or N200 million is provided for roads costing 20 or more billion of naira.
He said his ministry was working with all stakeholders to start operations of weight bridges at Nigerian ports and fuel depots to minimize the destruction of roads caused by overloading.
