• Says four years too short to design, build roads

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja



The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has called for the elongation of appointment of the Minister of Works and critical directors in the ministry, saying a four-year term is too short to design roads, undertake procurement and building the roads.

Fashola made the call yesterday in Abuja while unveiling a compendium on “Proof of Infrastructural Delivery across Nigeria,” a three-year special report of the ministry.

He stated: “Government cycles in the last 20 years have been fixed tenures of four years at a time, subject to how the electorate vote. Personnel changes are effected by retirement, deployment, opportunities and cabinet reshuffles. As a result, critical directors, permanent secretaries and ministers are turned over in a quest for efficiency.

“In all, since 1952 to date, Nigeria has had 34 ministers of works and I am number 34 in a period of 67 years. This amounts to an average of a minister every 1.9 years.

“A further interrogation of the data of tenure shows that very few of them served for up to four years and above and the majority served a little over a year, which is barely enough time to design a road not to talk of undertaking the procurement and actually building the road.”

He said the executive, legislative and judicial arms of government as a matter of urgency needed to forge a national consensus on how to overcome some of the challenges that the nation has faced in the delivery of urgently needed national infrastructure.

Fashola also called on the National Assembly to amend the Procurement Act, saying that the country’s procurement process must be urgent and be compelling to the national need.

Reeling out some of the achievements, on the road sector, the minister revealed that there is at least one federal road under construction in each of the 36 states and the FCT, saying while some have been completed, others are still under construction.

He gave reasons why President Muhammadu Buhari was re-elected, promising to take them to the Next Level and finish the job.

Fashola added that the housing sector has a similar story of economic opportunities with construction going on in 34 states, most of which are now largely completed, adding that the ministry was now in the administrative state of setting better conditions for eligibility and offer to the public, while simultaneously planning a second phase in those states that have given us land.


The minister noted that the ministry has cleared the backlog of unsigned consent to land transactions and issuance of certificates of transparency.

According to him, “As at April 13, 2019, we have issued 1,417 consents to land transactions; and 2,400 certificates of occupancy. Some of the beneficiaries have paid for their properties as far back as the 1990s; but did not get title. Very simply, we have made this place better than we met it. That is what our mandate for change meant and still means; making it better.”

The minister also explained that while the whole of Nigeria has focused on power from the grid for six decades in the search for a solution to the energy problem, the Buhari government has opened a new page through the ministry about the possibilities that lie in the off-grid sector.

Fashola said through this initiative and the Rural Electrification Agency, seven universities, two teaching hospitals are currently having their own independent power solution deployed at various states.

He stressed that preparatory works had been undertaken on all sites, while all the equipment have arrived in Nigerian ports and some have been cleared, while others are being attended to.

He said solar system and panels for the Ebonyi University have been installed and the plant would soon be completed.

Also, the Chairman, Senate Committee on works, Senator Kabir Gaya, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment to infrastructural development, stressing that roads that have been abandoned for 18 years are now back on track, including Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa road.

On his part, the Chairman House Committee on Housing, Hon. Mahmoud Muhammed, said that the only reason while he won’t say the programme was coming late was because the president was re-elected, adding that the compendium was meant to inform Nigerians about the achievement of this government.

Earlier, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, said that the ministry has made his job easier than it could have been, adding that if there is no achievement there would be nothing to propagate.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/04/30/fashola-seeks-elongation-of-works-ministers-tenure/amp/

Ole...he wants to be retained as super minister

Fashola should be made minister of work for life until retirement. My reason is because APAC will be in power for the next 50 years .
Ipob youth won’t like this .

So what is he trying to say is 4years is not enough for a minister to have a succesful tenure, Fashola should do his work properly and stop fabricating useless excuses.

Of all the clueless ministers in the buhari past administration , Fashola is the biggest disappointment , he promised so much and delivered little or nothing..
I recall seeing a clip during the GEJ administration , when fashola said and I quote " for Nigeria to have steady 24/7 electricity is not rocket science " but since his emergence as the Minister of power , it has been excuses upon excuses , he once said he has no control ,over steady electricity cos d power sector has been privatised....now he is saying he needs more than four years....He didn't know all this before he was running his mouth in 2015...
He was thinking to govern Lagos, and control ministry of power and works is the same thing !!!

Ok

Fashola because you read so many books doesn't make you as wiser as you think you are.

In serious countries, roads are built in less than a year but you want us to believe in Nigeria's case, four years is not enough

All these so called leaders only have the stupidity of their supporters to thank...

Ok

ok. Visit Lagos!

Show us your list of achievements first of all

Show us your list of achievements while in office first of all

and he will get it cos he's the one minister that can rightly be said to know what he's doing

so you can continue looting

selfish Afonja

Nothing but the truth

Lol
Funny.

Your tenure will be extended if you're good enough.
NO need to talk about it.

This minister of darkness and humongous incompetence wants his tenure to be elongated?


This failure cum ethnic chauvinist is indeed a clown.

His last four years tenure, he has been generating darkness.

Minister of darkness

Even our Leaders lack proactiveness.

I thought you said its not rocket science

So, a minister will have a different tenure from the executive that appointed him?
Don't we have civil servants in the ministry?
No more continuity in governance through different ministers?
A SAN should make more sense in such sensitive issues.

We couldn't see improvement in 4 years, how about 8 years?


Road network cut shorter under Fashola


Electricity reduced to 2.04MW under Fashola.

Housing cut shorter under Fashola.


Pres. Buhari gave one man, Fashola, the awesome responsibility to supply electricity, roads and housing in wide wide Nigeria.


Instead of Fashola to tell Buhari, "oga, look, this is too much for one man," Fashola took the impossible job.

Fashola!....... the mula dey sweet u bah?...... Chop ur chop make u leave d place

Fashola has performed woefully and he is seeking elongation.

List your business on https://www.nairakobo.com.ng/

Actually it’s more than enough bt he’s been over labored we understand.

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While the MODs are spamming it with Regina Daniels the Bet9ja scammers are spamming it with pictures of 'winnings' consuming our data