A House of Representatives member, Alliyu Pategi, has urged Federal Government to take funds from foreign reserve to finance Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and second Niger Bridge projects. Pategi made the call at the public hearing on the projects, organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Works, in Abuja. He said that with over $40bn in its foreign reserve, the country could part with less than $1bn to fund the projects estimated at about N160bn for completion, this year. The lawmaker advised the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, to apply political will and engage President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue.
SELF CONTAIN FOR RENT IN ABUJA
According to him, the president should allow at least $1bn to be accessed from the reserve so that the projects can be finished within the shortest time possible. Pategi also said it does not quite make sense borrowing money when there is such amount seated in an account where it is working for other economies and while the minister champion this cause about the projects, the parliament will support him. Pategi, who is the Chairman, house committee on water resources said that the country could not continue to construct a kilometre of the road for N1bn. He mentioned the high cost of delivering projects in the country, saying it was the highest in the world and he also called for measures to put an end to inflating the cost of projects.
The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said that issues of the foreign reserve were beyond him, explaining that the Central Bank of Nigeria and the president’s economic team could decide on the application of the funds. Fashola said that from his knowledge of economics, the foreign reserve was used for international trade and that it was important to leave some decent amount of fund in the reserve.
Source: Punch
