The Federal Emergency Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has lamented that its plans to ensure that roads across Nigeria are motorable and in good condition may not materialise if its budget for 2025 is not increased.
Similarly, the Minister of State for Works, Mohammad Bello Goronyo, expressed displeasure over the proposed N64.88bn budgetary allocation to FERMA, saying it is grossly inadequate for the agency’s responsibilities.
This is coming as stakeholders demanded for a collaborative approach to address the agency’s funding gap and ensure the sustainability of Nigeria’s critical road infrastructure for economic growth.
In a statement he issued on Wednesday, Goronyo noted that FERMA is a critical sector in salvaging Nigeria’s food production and transportation, stressing that the agency’s important role in maintaining Nigeria’s enormous road network should be supported with sufficient funding.
The Minister had appeared before the National Assembly to defend its budget in Abuja.
He highlighted the gap between FERMA’s needs and available funding, expressing concern that the agency’s budget has initially stood at N96.7bn for 2024, before it was later increased to N103.3bn through the President’s intervention.
However, he disclosed that only N41.282bn of this amount was released by the Accountant General’s office, with N40.287bn utilized so far.
According to him, the N64.88bn budget that FERMA suggested for 2025 is made up of N26.487bn for capital expenditures, N33.468bn for overheads, and N4.9bn for personnel costs.
He explained that in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda’s development and economic recovery goals, the budget focuses on repairing key trunk A highways throughout Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
Goronyo maintained that “The amount proposed for the year 2025 is significantly lower than the 2024 appropriation,” urging the Committee to support the agency to ensure the sustainability of road infrastructure maintenance.
For the Minister, the benefits of increased financial support will ensure scaling up preventive maintenance and promoting sustainable road maintenance practices.
During a Senate Committee oversight visit to FERMA in March 2024, it was observed that the yearly allocation to the agency falls far short of the over N700bn required for effective road maintenance nationwide.
Seeking similar upgrade of funds for the agency, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on FERMA, Babangida Husaini, had voiced his dismay at the insufficient funding.
He said, “The Committee was taken aback when we saw the proposed allocation to FERMA.”
“Nigerians are daily crying and yearning for the repair and maintenance of existing roads to facilitate both their movements and the transport of goods. If we agree that roads are enablers of growth and development, there must be a need to interface with all stakeholders to find lasting solutions to this perennial issue of poor funding,” he said.
The Managing Director/CEO of FERMA, Agbasi Chukwuemeka, provided the Committee with an overview of the agency’s 2024 budget performance.
He highlighted achievements based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including the length of roads maintained, portholes patched and reinstated, bridges repaired, and direct and indirect jobs created.
However, Chukwuemeka also highlighted the challenges the agency is facing, including inadequate funding, aging and deteriorating road infrastructure, vandalism, adverse weather conditions related to climate change and the need to modernize the agency’s human resource department to keep up with modern trends in road management.
Chukwuemeka disclosed that the Japanese government has donated N3.3bn worth of equipment to FERMA, marking a milestone by 2024.
He said the assets would soon be commissioned to enhance the agency’s operational capacity.