Federal Ministry of Works

May

2026

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INFRASTRUCTURE REMAINS CRITICAL TO ECONOMIC GROWTH — PERMANENT SECRETARY TELLS INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SERVICE CONFERENCE 2026 IN ABUJA

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr. Rafiu Olarinre Adeladan, has reaffirmed that infrastructure development remains the foundation of economic growth and sustainable national development, stressing that no nation can attain meaningful progress without substantial investment in critical infrastructure.

Speaking at the International Civil Service Conference 2026 held on Thursday in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary described infrastructure as a key driver of economic transformation, noting that the present administration has prioritised infrastructure and transportation as central pillars of national development.

According to him, countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and South Africa have continued to achieve significant economic advancement through deliberate and sustained investments in roads, railways, power, and other essential infrastructure.

He explained that infrastructure plays a strategic role across all sectors of the economy, including agriculture, transportation, commerce, and oil and gas, by facilitating the movement of goods and services, enhancing productivity, attracting investments, and improving the quality of life of citizens.

Adeladan further disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Works has adopted modern and resilient road construction technology known as Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP), in line with global best practices and in response to the growing impact of climate change on road infrastructure.

He noted that although CRCP roads require higher initial construction costs, they are more durable, environmentally sustainable, cost-effective over time, and capable of withstanding heavy traffic loads for up to 50 years with minimal maintenance.
The Permanent Secretary added that the adoption of concrete pavement technology promotes local content development through the utilisation of locally sourced materials and labour, thereby creating employment opportunities and stimulating economic growth.

Addressing the challenges confronting infrastructure development in Nigeria, Adeladan identified inadequate funding as a major constraint, particularly given the enormous resources required to bridge the nation’s infrastructure deficit.

He explained that government alone cannot provide all the funding needed for infrastructure development, hence the increasing adoption of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and concession arrangements for major road projects nationwide.
He cited the Benin–Asaba Road and the Abuja–Keffi–Akwanga corridor as examples of projects already concessioned to ensure sustainable maintenance, improved efficiency, and enhanced service delivery.

The Permanent Secretary stressed the importance of designing infrastructure projects with clear developmental objectives, sustainability, climate resilience, and community needs in mind, noting that infrastructure investments must deliver tangible socio-economic benefits and long-term public value.

Also speaking at the conference, the Permanent Secretary, State House, Mr. Temitope Peter Fashedemi, underscored the importance of proper planning and climate-conscious infrastructure delivery to mitigate losses caused by flooding, erosion, and poor maintenance culture.
Similarly, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Dr. Emanso Umobong, advocated the integration of technology, smart city concepts, community participation, and human capital development in infrastructure planning and implementation.

In his remarks, the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) emphasised that Nigeria’s huge infrastructure gap requires stronger private sector participation, noting that sustainable infrastructure financing can only be achieved through an enabling environment that guarantees investor confidence and reasonable returns on investment.

The conference brought together top government officials, policymakers, development experts, and other stakeholders to deliberate on strategies for strengthening infrastructure delivery and promoting sustainable national development through innovation, technology, and collaborative partnerships.

Mohammed A. Ahmed
Director, Information and Public Relations
21st May,2026

Sep

2023

FG Will No Longer Accept Road Contract Certificate for Payment Generated by One Person – Umahi .....No one will make unnecessary request during road construction – Eleme LGA Chairman. The Honourable Minister of Works H.E Sen (Engr) David Nweze Umahi has remarked that the Federal Government will no longer accept road contract certificate for payment generated by one person, he made this statement while inspecting some roads within Rivers and Akwa Ibom States on Wednesday. He said “No longer will certificate for payment be generated by one person, contractor must sign it, resident engineer as well. state controllers, regional controllers, and they will all endure inspections are done, state Commissioners of Works shall generate work done, prepare the certificate with calculations and geotechnical reports, sketches and valuation, then they will bring it to me, the moment I see that things are working I will sign within 6hours”. “I have directed that any project that motor users cannot go through the entire length and breadth of the project awarded to a contractor, I will not sign the certificate, contractors must maintain all the roads, the length and breath within their contract , I am directing the controllers and Directors of the Regions to ensure between Abuja and Port Harcourt they must fix the remedial works within the next 14days” He briefed the press. The Minister, speaking further said “how could a payment certificate be given for a road that has failed and the contractor is on site and you turn around to blame the leaders, who signs the papers ?, you sign the paper and originate the certificate but I have directed that enough is enough , they must show me how increase in our contracts come about , anyone can sign a paper for them to pay but as for me I will not sign anything that I don’t know how it came about if you want to do ashphalt continue with it but you must sign a performance bond that the road must not fail within the life time of the project , I want Nigerians to know that overloading is not responsible for failure of the road , most of the contractors have jobs in more than ten locations with two equipment so they cannot cope with the volume of jobs”. The Minister had also directed that any contractor without COREN Certified Engineer must not be allowed to work, he said any consultant or civil servant that behaved the way they have been behaving their certificate would be withdrawn. Umahi said President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is determined to end the sufferings of the road users in Nigeria, he said “road is everything to this country, road is everything to Commerce, road is everything to Solid Mineral, Medicine, Education, Agriculture and to Food Security". The Honourable Minister was approached by youths of Eleme during his inspection for upgrading of four lanes to six lanes for Eleme junction to Onne junction road projects in Rivers State where he promised them that he would work with the youths to ensure that the road does not remain the same. Earlier the Eleme Local Government Area Chairman, Hon. Obarilomate Ollor who spoke on behalf of the youths said “ I thank the Minister for coming to inspect this road on behalf of Mr President , this bad road has been responsible for the untimely death of so many people and more that ten thousands of vehicles ply this route daily , and from what you have said the youths will cooperate with you to deliver this project and we will not make unnecessary request”. Some of the projects inspected by the Minister in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states included Aba- Port Harcourt road, Bodo Bonny road, Ogoni bridge, Reconstruction of Abak – Ekparakwa –Ette- Ikot Abasi road and the dualization of the East West Road Section four at Eket By Pass. ...

Sep

2023

Umahi Invites Directors of Ferma Engineers in Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, And Akwa Ibom Over Failures on East West Road .....Minister passes vote of no confidence on the construction of East West Road The Honourable Minister of Works H.E Sen (Engr) David Nweze Umahi in his continuous assessment of the Nigerian roads has travelled by road from Abuja, through Kogi, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa up to Port Harcourt in Rivers State through the famous much talked about East West Road to inspect the progress of work on the highway by himself on Tuesday the 19th of September,2023. The Minister said “ I have invited all the Directors of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) with their engineers from Edo , Delta , Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom , they should be able to attend to the small failures and redeem all the places that failed on the road and I will hold a meeting with Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC ) Managing Director this evening to find out how we can collaborate on this road”. On the East West road he said he had discussed with the Edo State Governor that the East West road passed through his state and that was what is causing the traffic jams and hold up, he said they have to design a bye pass, so that the heavy trucks can stop ,moving through the town , it is by so doing that the gridlock can be stopped and business activity in the state can improve. Umahi said “We have to look at our constituency projects to see how our constituency projects can be meaningful and impactful and I will be discussing this with the leadership of the House of Representative and the Senate“. While berating SETRACO construction company working on the East West Road the Minister said “the gimmicks the contractors are using is excuse of overloading. I am passing A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE on the construction of this road, I won’t certify anything on this road, the road has failed, and it is not acceptable to us. the road is full of pot holes , we have paid over N71b and the road has completely gone down, and the road has been further reviewed from N44b to 144b billion , apart from the beautiful bridge you have built , the road has completely gone down , project manager tell your team to meet me in Abuja on Monday to tell me what has caused the failure on the road, I do not accept it is overloading truck, our roads are not properly being constructed and I demand that these roads must be properly constructed , it is a fight that Nigerians must win and Mr. President must win this fight for the sake of the Nigerian people to truly enjoy the dividends of a democratic Government. ...

Sep

2023

Minister of Works, State Governments in Joint Inspection of Edo and Delta Federal Roads. ....."I have just directed that every project must have a COREN registered engineer”- Umahi. .....Community Group, Driver express hope of having a good road soon. The Honourable Minister of Works H.E. Sen (Engr) David Nweze Umahi, the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Chief (Sir) Monday John Onyeme and the Commissioner for Roads and Bridges in Edo State Osazemen Ethan Uzamere with some stakeholders toured some ongoing road construction works in Edo and Delta States respectively on Monday. During the joint inspection, Levant Construction Company that is handling some of the Federal Government Road projects linking Edo and Delta States in Benin were directed by the Minister of Works to do the maintenance work of the construction of Benin – Sapele road at night and that work should start immediately, while the bad spots should be made motorable within 30days. Umahi said “we have directed them to immediately maintain the road , we are redesigning the road irrespective of the fact that they have gotten advance payment , we are redesigning the road on concrete , We have agreed with the commissioner of Works and Bridges in Edo State that the drains should be opened so that the water can go out in order for the contractor to maintain the road, I am giving the contractor 7days to come up with the new design so that we all look at it together”. The Minister said “ I have looked at the road projects from Abuja to Benin City , the intention of the past administration all the way from Abuja to Benin City , very wonderful intention I commend the initiative but Nigerians do not have value for all money spent on the roads, I was on the road for 14hours with all the securities attached to me and if I could be on the road for 14hours imagine what ordinary Nigerians are passing through without security , this is not acceptable ". "Unless we change our procurement process, this country cannot move forward. I am very happy that Mr President is a man of infrastructure, he is a man that knows how every aspect of this country will be reset, I am very happy about that, and I will do everything within my power to support him” Umahi told the states stakeholders. He said , “On the side of the contractors there are no good intentions , they don’t have enough personnel that are qualified , I have just directed that every project must have a Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN )registered engineer to be the project manager for all contracts for every company on the road and the person must not have less than 15years on road construction and I have also directed that we shall no more do surface dressing on our road shoulders , I have directed that all projects must stop and be redesigned on concrete , the truth is that non of these roads that are built from Abuja to Benin will last more than 5years and that is very unfortunate , roads are failing because most of the contractors don’t do what is called penetration test , we also have adulterated bitumen , the bitumen imported into this country are adulterated , they should go to Ondo and Ogun State and develop our abundant bitumen there “. “We don’t want to put anybody out of business but we must develop our economy, they should employ our engineers; material engineers, geo technical engineers, surveyors, structural engineers and road engineers , every project should not have less than seven professionals supervising it for Ministry of Works, we are going to reset our road construction so that the people can smile again under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu” the Minister reiterated. The Deputy Governor of Delta State, Chief (Sir) Monday John Onyeme after touring Benin –Sapele –Warri road , Sapele Roundabout , ongoing dualization of Sapele –Ewu road , Sapele – Agbor road and Nigerian Port Authority roads in Delta State with the Minister at a press briefing said to the Minister “ Thank you for coming to see for yourself the importance of caring to do these roads , I do know that you have been tested , we have no fear that you will do it . We assure you of Delta State support and we will give you 100% cooperation”. Earlier in Benin, a community group known as Sapele Road Bypass Axis Group (SARBAR), through its Association General Secretary Pastor Moses Omo- Osagiede said “We are happy with the visit of the Honourable Minister to Edo State on road inspection and we do hope that the maintenance work will be done quickly”. Similarly, a bus driver Mr Emmanuel Felix who volunteered to speak on behalf of other drivers who ply Sapele Road Bypass Axis and the Benin –Sapele –Warri Road regularly said, “we hope with the inspection of the road by the Minister and this team, the contractor will do a good job and not their usual fake road works”. ...

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Nov

2025

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Feb

2019

Minister Guarantees Continuous Funding Of Second Niger Bridge Construction

The Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Hon. Mustapha Baba Shehuri has guaranteed Nigerians of Federal Government’s determination to continue funding on-going construction works on the 2nd Niger Bridge linking Asaba, Delta State with Onitsha, Anambra State. He gave the assurance while on an inspection visit to the site.

2. Hon. Shehuri reiterated that since the present Administration came on board, its priority has, essentially, been on infrastructural development. He added that this has placed a huge obligation on the construction of an additional bridge to compliment the existing one built in 1965 as a crucial link between the Eastern and Western regions of the country.

3. Hon. Shehuri said the Federal Government will stop at nothing to ensure that funds are released, as at when due, to the contractor in order to accomplish the project for ease of vehicular traffic and socio - economic enhancement.

4. The Minister revealed that since the commencement of the Main Works for the construction of this national infrastructure in 2017, after the completion of Early Works, Phases I - IV, there has been no delay in payments. This is evident in the appreciable progress achieved so far.

5. On the issue of compensation, the Minister appealed to the affected communities to co-operate with the Federal Government as the project, when eventually completed, would be of benefit to them, in particular, and Nigerians, as a whole.

6. Speaking earlier, the Federal Controller of Works, Anambra State, Engr. Ajani Adeyemo established the fact that the Ministry has already paid compensations to the tune of N3.5Billion for claims on the project corridor. He also disclosed that compensation was paid from Km 23 - 34.9 of the project, though there were still pockets of claims coming in from time to time. These outstanding claims have already been forwarded to the Ministry for consideration and settlement, he added.

7. Engr. Adeyemo, while allaying the fears of Nigerians on the scheduled delivery of the project, further explained that the 2nd Niger Bridge, alongside two other Federal Government projects, are specially funded from the National Sovereign Investments Fund (NSIF) and as such will not experience paucity of funding. The Federal Controller, gladly, informed the Minister that, while the completion period for the contract is 42 months, it is presently at 17% within 4 months.

8. The Project Director, Julius Berger (Nigeria) Limited, Mr Frederick Weiser stated that his Company has received payment on work done thus far and the communities have been co-operating as well. The major threat to the project, according to him, is the River Niger itself. He believes the river was going to rise between 10m to 12m as the rainy season was fast approaching. This, he said, calls for intensive work, 24 hours of the day, seven days a week to ensure it progresses before the River level rises.

Speeches

Aug

2017

Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN At The 23rd Meeting Of The National Council On Works

Address Delivered By The Honourable Minister Of Power, Works And Housing, At The NAF Conference Centre, Abuja On Thursday 20th July 2017

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen:

In choosing the theme of this year's Council, we, seek to raise the level and quality of our transport infrastructure to the globally acceptable standards.

As human beings, mobility has become a major commitment of the global urban agenda.

This must be so because our development, prosperity and sometimes our survival is tied to our mobility and so is our productivity, social and cultural interactions.

I am happy, first, to announce to you that Nigeria, under the leadership of President Buhari has played a critical and positive role in developing a common African position since 2016 that has helped to shape the Global Urban Agenda adopted in Quito, Ecuador this year to guide the global development until 2036.

What is left is for us as champions of that African position and urban agenda, is to begin to localize and implement its component parts for the benefits of our people.

Yes, we have to build roads, highways and bridges.

But the question then is: Roads, highways and bridges to where. Where do they lead?

Unless we know where these critical transport infrastructure lead to, they will either have failed to achieve the objective of mobility or will, at best, do so with difficulty.

Long before the development of the Internet and the proliferation of smart phones and apps, many countries have developed maps to help guide their citizens and transport infrastructure users through the labyrinth of their network of roads.

But these maps alone do not achieve the purpose without road signs, which indicates to road users, how far their journey is, how far they have progressed, how much is left to travel, and how far away they are from one village, city, local government, or from critical services like hospitals, fuel stations and hotels or motels to help ease the stress and tedium of long distance travel.

Sadly, these signs are either non-existent or largely insufficient on our highways.

So, imagine driving by yourself into a city you have never been, how do you know where to link the next interstate highway, or expect to buy fuel or plan to sleep for the night on a long journey or get medical help in case of a road traffic accident.

Have we considered the fact that the existence of highway signs is a reason why the car rental business and its collateral employment thrives in some countries and not in our own?

The proliferation of global, country and state maps on the handheld devices therefore creates a compelling urgency on all of us to start developing and installing signage on our roads, bridges and highways at interstate and intra-state levels.

This is one sure way of facilitating mobility and implementing the local component of the global urban agenda for the benefit of our people.

But it will not be enough to just simply erect any type of sign, in any place or indeed anyhow.

They must be produced according to specifications and enduring materials, and they must be installed to a minimum standard that ensures their durability, endurance and utility for commuters.

I would like to place on public record, my pride, and indeed my gratitude to the staff of the works sector of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing for their hard work in developing these specifications and standards.

Similarly, I will like to acknowledge the technical support and cooperation that the Corp Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and his team have afforded our team in the process of developing the size, quality and lettering specifications of these signs.

Ladies and gentlemen, helping commuters to navigate the journey is only half of the human benefit of signage and our mobility policy.

The other half is the direct economic benefits to those people who will benefit from contracts, jobs and the financial rewards that come from producing the signs, fabricating the steel, printing the signs, and the labour to be employed in installing them.

These benefits are also true of lane marking.

This is why we have chosen this National Council, where states are represented, professional groups are represented and the requisite technical personnel are present to unveil this policy and programme.

While our roads are still in various stages of completion, our economic needs compel us to refuse to wait until everything is done before we begin to confer the benefits of lane marking and street signage on our people.

We have met in the Ministry and agreed to compile the list of roads where significant sections have been completed, and prepare them for procurement and award of sub-contracts in collaboration with our main contractors, and this procurement will then be advertised in due course as required by law and subject to an open and competitive bids.

As more sections of roads reach completion they will be subject to similar processes so we expect this to be continuous.

While we will implore on and insist that those who benefit from these contracts perform them to the highest standards of quality, we understand that signs can be damaged, and road markings require periodic touching up.

Therefore, we see a future of maintenance jobs and contracts going forward, to create sustained employment in our road transport sector.

Ladies and gentlemen, I could think of no better time, when our economy needs to be creative in order to provide inclusion for unemployed young able-bodied people, and I can think of no better forum than this National Council of Works, to discuss the economic, safety, and people-oriented basis of this policy, to address the theme of this council which is ‘Adequate Traffic Signage - An Essential Key for Highways Infrastructure, Safety and Comfort.’

I will now conclude by saying that everybody has an important role to play in order to ensure that the benefits of this policy reach all the sectors of our economy and the people they are designed for.

I sincerely hope that our government will be able to count on you as we have always done to ensure its successful implementation.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Honorable Minister for Power, Works and Housing

Thursday 20th July 2017

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Jun

2025

DRIVING NIGERIA’S FUTURE: CELEBRATING TWO YEARS OF TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP AND THE LAGOS-CALABAR COASTAL HIGHWAY MILESTONE

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Apr

2026

ASSUMPTION OF OFFICE OF ENGR MUTTAQHA RABE DARMA, PHD, HON MINISTER, FMHUD, MONDAY, APRIL 27TH, 2026

Assumption of Office of Engr Muttaqha Rabe Darma, PhD, Hon Minister, FMHUD, Monday, April 27th, 2026

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