INFRASTRUCTURE DELIVERY: FASHOLA CLARIFIES MISREPRESENTATION OF HIS STATEMENT ON NIGERIA, US * Alerts right thinking and well-meaning people to the antics of the main opposition The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN on Friday clarified the statement mischievously attributed to him in a section of the media as saying that Nigeria's achievements in Infrastructure has surpassed that of the United States. Responding to a journalist’s question on the issue during an inspection tour of the ongoing rehabilitation of the Abuja- Kaduna- Zaria -Kano Dual Carriageway Sections I to III, Fashola said:"The first point to make is that I didn't say that Nigeria's infrastructure was better than America's infrastructure because certainly anybody who knows what he is doing will know that America is a much richer nation, their infrastructure is well ahead of Nigeria." "What I was talking about at the presentation with the All Progressives Congress, (APC) Youth Ministerial Conference was about the challenges of infrastructure and that it is universal, every country commits to infrastructure as a legitimate way to create work, to grow the economy and distribute wealth as we have seen here." "That’s the first point I was making, and that in a democracy you always  need the Parliament to authorize what you spend on infrastructure and so I was making the comparison that Buhari has been able to get his Parliament to authorize his spending, and that is why we were even able to gather here (at the Special Ministerial Conversational Conference). But that the American government is struggling to get authorisation from their own parliament to start what we are already doing. I didn’t say our infrastructure is better than theirs," he said. According to the Minister, the deliberate misreporting of his clear statement of fact and the almost spontaneous orchestration of reactions based on the misrepresentation on the social media should send a clear warning to right thinking and well-meaning Nigerians about the type of campaign which the main opposition wants to run towards the 2023 election. “It’s a campaign of lies and misinformation. The main opposition has a very uncomfortable relationship with the truth, so they are going to run a campaign of lies and disinformation, so we must be ready for it.” "The progress we are making here make them very uncomfortable, so they can't disprove that work is going on, they can't disprove that infrastructure is being developed so they are going to look for every way to distort  and misinform the public," he said . Noting that he remains undaunted by the unwarranted attacks based on misinformation, the Minister said he took time to make the clarification in the course of the inspection tour to alert well-meaning Nigerians to the kind of campaign which the main opposition wants to run. ...

Aggressive Work on Road Projects to Resume as 2021/2022 SUKUK Fund is set to be released The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN has assured Nigerians that work on road projects being funded through the SUKUK would soon witness an increase in pace as government is set to release the SUKUK fund for 2021 and 2022. Fashola gave the assurance, Thursday, January 27th, 2022, while speaking to journalists after inspecting the ongoing Dualization of the Kano - Katsina Road Phases I and II in Kano and Kaduna States in response to a question on the funding challenges faced by the contractors handling such projects. The Minister said, "The Minister of Finance has told us that very soon SUKUK Fund for 2021 and 2022 will be ready for release and that will be in a couple of weeks from now, so that all of the backlog of funding on Works and certificates that have accrued will be paid and work can continue.” The Minister expressed satisfaction on the progress of the project which was a single carriageway before the decision of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to expand it to a dual carriageway thereby making it more efficient for the increased volume of traffic in that area. On the Issue of compensation for the people affected by the project, Fashola said, " That is essentially a state government responsibility because of the power granted to the state under the constitution with respect to land control and what we need really is the right of way, this is the cooperation needed from the states." He however expressed confidence that the challenge of compensation will soon be over with the assurance given by the Kano State Government that steps were being taken to settle it and hoped that the Katsina State Government would do the same. He explained that the reason why some Sections of the roads were skipped was because of the pending issues of compensation, adding that as soon as they were settled, the contractors will return to those portions to do their work. The Minister described the road as strategic because it is serving the biggest grain market in the country from where goods are moved to as far as Libya. On the economic and social significance of the roads to the people, Fashola said when contractors get money they pay their own suppliers like those who supplied asphalt, crush stones, sand and so on thereby redistributing the wealth of the nation around the economy and creating employment in the process. Fashola said when the President said he was going to take one hundred million people out of poverty, he was referring to the employment that would be generated through investment in infrastructure development among others. He stated that with the support of the President his Ministry will continue to implement programmes that will engender the distribution of the wealth of the country to people at the lowest bottom of the pyramid.   " These were the things the President referred to when he said he wants to remove 100 million people out of poverty," he said. "As you build efficiency, you are building prosperity. Even though the President cannot reach physically everyone individually, he is having a handshake with the people through infrastructural development." Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in Kano State, Engineer Yahaya Baba Ali informed the Minister and his entourage that the dualization of the 73 kilometres Kano - Katsina Road Phase I begins from Dawanau roundabout in Kano and terminates at the Katsina border. The road, he said serves the biggest grain market in the country which is located at Dawanau in Kano State. Engineer Ali also informed the Minister that the contractor had completed work on the construction of additional carriageway, while the reconstruction of the old carriageway had reached 30 percent. The representative of the CCECC, the construction company handling the project, Mr Ren Shaoshuri gave the assurance that the project which had reached 83 percent will be completed on target if funding is provided. Engineer Goni Tahir, Federal Controller of Works in Katsina State also assured the Minister that the contractor was ready to deliver the Phase II of the project with improved funding.     ...

President Buhari's Infrastructure Drive Legitimately Enhancing Economic Growth, Prosperity Among Nigerians - Fashola Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN has said that the APC government under President Muhammadu Buhari is leading millions of Nigerians to prosperity through the massive infrastructure it is providing across the country. Fashola stated this in Kano as a Guest Speaker at Special Ministerial Conversational Series with the theme, " Progressive Mission: The Road to our Future" organised by the Progressive Youth Wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Thursday, January 27th, 2022. The Minister explained that the Progressive government of President Buhari has 941 road and bridge as well as other infrastructure projects across the states of the federation thereby impacting positively on the lives of the people in many more ways through the various construction works. According to Fashola, the many infrastructure projects across the country are: ongoing highway and bridges projects, tertiary institutions internal roads rehabilitation, construction of new Federal Secretariats in six states and rehabilitation of 24 Federal Secretariats across the country. Other areas are; construction of housing estates under the National Housing Programme in 34 states, rehabilitation of 34 bridges across the nation and scheduled maintenance of roads. Listing the economic benefits of road construction to the people, Fashola said a lot of jobs have been created for suppliers of sand and building materials, artisans, labourers, farmers and even food vendors who make their daily earnings from the construction sides. Confirming the different experiences of people as regards to how the roads construction impacted positively on the lives of Nigerians, the Minister quoted what Nigerians across the social strata said about the roads that were recently commissioned in their respective areas. " President Buhari is legitimately distributing wealth through investment in road infrastructure and the 100 million Nigerians he said would take out of poverty in decade would be achieved," he said. Justifying the need to consistently focus on providing infrastructure, Fashola explained that the growing population oftentimes necessitated growing the country's infrastructure to meet up with the increasing needs of the populace. He explained that all over the world, it would difficult to find the inaugural address of Presidents and Governors that would not contain a commitment to the development of the infrastructure of their society. " What really distinguishes this Progressive government under President Muhammadu Buhari is the focus and change it brought in governance. Infrastructure is one area that we are not only different but better,” he said.     ...