Our roads are dead, Buhari admits

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President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that the nation’s roads are in precarious state and are in dire need of attention by the Federal Government.

He also made case for the immediate development of infrastructure such as rail and power.

Buhari spoke during a presidential dinner he hosted in honour of senators at the new Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.

“The roads are dead. Those who drive between Lagos and Ibadan will have a lot of stories to tell you. Those who drive from Kaduna to Jebba may have more stories to tell. The same thing is applicable to the East West Road,” the President said.

He urged the Senate to assist his government in concentrating on the problem of infrastructure such as rail, road and power.

He asked the Senate committees to look at the various agreements the nation had entered into in the last six years and see where Nigeria had been defaulting in terms of payment of counterpart fundings.

He observed that if the nation could get the railway working, lives and fuel would be saved.

The President also touched on the nation’s economy, saying the drop in the price of oil was affecting it negatively.

While thanking the Senate for the speed with which his ministerial nominees were approved, he urged them to treat the nation’s budget with the same sense of urgency.

“We are enjoying tremendous goodwill outside this country. Whatever we do, let us have it in mind that people have confidence in this government,” the President said.

The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, thanked the President on behalf of his colleagues and pledged the senators’ continuous support for the government.

While admitting that the challenges ahead are enormous, Saraki said he believed that when God gives man a position, He would also equip him with the capacity to carry out the task.

In treating national issues, he promised that the Senate under his watch would not be sentimental.

“Petrol does not know the APC or the PDP. We will always work hard in the interest of the country in everything we do,” Saraki promised.

Journalists were later politely asked to leave the venue to enable the President to have a closed-door interactive session with the senators.

The dinner was also attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu; top government officials and presidential aides.

Meanwhile, Buhari has warned that his administration will not hesitate to prosecute anyone found culpable in the mismanagement of government funds provided for the upkeep of the nation’s tertiary institutions.

Buhari spoke on Wednesday during a special convocation for the installation of the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, as the ninth Chancellor of the University of Benin, Edo State.

He noted that while his administration was committed to providing funding for the revitalisation of the education sector, his regime “will not fold its arms and watch unscrupulous elements mismanage these very valuable resources.”

Source: Punch