Federal Ministry of Works

Sep

2026

LATEST PRESS

UMAHI ORDERS IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY INTERVENTION ON BENIN-ASABA ROAD, AND SOME OTHER CRITICAL FEDERAL ROADS

The Honourable Minister of Works, Senator Engr. David Nweze Umahi, CON, has directed the immediate deployment of major contractors to all three sections of the Benin-Asaba Federal Road to restore the failed sections and bring an end to the suffering of motorists and other road users.

This is because, the situation on the concessioned Benin-Asaba Road has reached a point where the overall public interest must take precedence over the existing concession agreement.

Recall that the Honourable Minister of Works was on the Benin-Asaba Road about seven days ago, where he assembled a number of contractors and directed them to prepare for immediate palliative intervention on the affected sections of the road at no cost to the concessionaire. In line with the Concession agreement which requires that before the Federal Government could intervene, the permission of the concessionaire must be required, and that permission was not granted to federal government.

The Minister subsequently proposed three options to the concessionaire, any one of which would have enabled the Federal Government to move in and address the worsening condition of the road. Unfortunately, none of the options was accepted by the concessionaire. Immediately after the Minister left Asaba, the already limited equipment deployed to the road by the concessionaire was further reduced to just one, worsening the situation and increasing the suffering of motorists and other road users.

While the Minister takes responsibility for the concerns and suffering of Nigerians using the road, it is important to state that the concessionaire has also not taken the suffering of Edo people and travelling public sufficiently into consideration by declining all the options put forward by the Federal Government. The concessionaire continues to rely on the terms of the concession agreement entered into by the previous administration, an agreement which weighs heavily against the Federal Government’s ability to intervene quickly in the interest of the public in a situation like this.

In view of this situation, the Honourable Minister of Works has directed the immediate deployment of major contractors within the corridor to all three sections of the Benin-Asaba Road to restore the failed sections and bring relief to the people, with the cost of the emergency intervention being borne by the Federal Government. The Honourable Minister has also directed immediate redesign of the entire route to be rebuilt with reinforced concrete pavement. The public should therefore take note that immediate action is underway to restore every failed section of the Benin-Asaba Road and subsequently rehabilitate the entire sections of the road using reinforced concrete pavement.

2. On the Benin-Sapele Road:
The Governors of Edo and Delta States, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and the Federal Government are currently engaged in interventions on different sections of the road to restore the entire route. While some sections are receiving palliative attention, permanent works are also ongoing on other sections.

3. On Ifaki(Ekiti) - Kabba (Kogi) Road:
The Federal Government is engaging both the contractor; Gamji Nigeria Company Limited, and Dangote PLC on immediate emergency and permanent intervention on the most failed sections of the road, while efforts are being made to financially mobilise the company for more extensive permanent work to commence on the axis.

4. On the Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina Road: This is an inherited project involving the dualisation of approximately 350 kilometres, which translates to about 700 kilometers. The project has since been redesigned and is currently ongoing and most sections are being reconstructed using reinforced concrete pavement. From the Sokoto axis towards Zamfara, over 50 kilometres of one carriageway have been fully completed with reinforced concrete pavement. From Zamfara to Katsina, some sections have been completed and palliative works have been ordered over the sections that have not been reconstructed. However, the pace of work slowed down due to the redesign and rephasing of the project. The contractors currently engaged on the road include CBC, SETRACO, Triacta and Mothercat. They are being remobilised to return to site and complete the outstanding works.

5. On the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road: The Federal Government took over the Road project and has currently completed the 118-kilometer mostly on reinforced concrete pavement on lot 1. The Lot 2, which covers 164 kilometres, is over 60 percent completed on reinforced concrete pavement. The Federal Government has also introduced solar-powered light on the entire route of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria - Kano to improve visibility during night travel and enhance the overall security situation on the route. The entire project is scheduled for completion by December 2026.

6. On Bauchi-Jigawa Road: Triacta Nigeria Limited has been mobilised to carry out the necessary interventions on some failed sections and work is currently ongoing in those failed sections.

7. On the Sagamu-Ore Road: 48 Kilometers of the 96-kilometre road have already been completed using reinforced concrete pavement. There is also a 24-kilometre section around Ore which was abandoned by the previous contractor. The Federal Government has directed its immediate restoration to ensure seamless travel. Solar lights are being installed in the entire 96kilometer of the road.

8. On Flooded Sections on Sagamu-Ore-Benin Road: The flooded sections on the same corridor between Sagamu-Ore-Benin Road, as well as other flooded sections in Ondo State, are being designed for emergency procurement and intervention.

9. On the East-West Road:
Some failed and critical sections, including defective sections of bridges along the East-West Road, are being marked out for emergency procurement and intervention.

10. On the Abuja-Lokoja Road:
Several contracts are ongoing along the route, while the three critical sections currently without contracts are being procured for emergency intervention.

11. On the Lokoja-Benin-Warri Road: The President has directed a complete redesign and procurement of the 400-kilometre dualised route covering the uncompleted sections, using reinforced concrete pavement, while palliative works will continue with the contractors currently on the road.

12. On Carter Bridge:
While the Federal Government continues to undertake weekly maintenance of the underwater elements of the bridge. The site has also been handed over to the contractor, CCECC, for the construction of a permanent new bridge, and work has commenced.

13. On the Third Mainland Bridge:
With regard to the defective underwater structural elements, the Federal Government is at the final stage of determining the appropriate intervention for the repair of the affected elements.

14. On the flooded section of the Lagos-Ibadan Road: Work has commenced on the affected section. There are also several flooded sections on federal roads across the six geopolitical zones, largely occasioned by excessive flooding and the effects of climate change. The Federal Government is identifying and marking these sections for immediate attention.

15. On the First and Second Niger Bridges:
Intervention work is ongoing on the approach roads to the Second Niger Bridge damaged by flood and the work is progressing very well. The First Niger Bridge has been closed to traffic to enable immediate repair works. Contractor has mobilized to site and comprehensive rehabilitation of the bridge has started. From Summit Junction to the First Niger Bridge, massive rehabilitation work is also ongoing using reinforced concrete pavement.

16. The Honourable Minister wishes to commend the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for the massive work being undertaken on the nation’s roads since the administration assumed office in 2023.

17. It is important to state that when the present administration came into office, there was hardly any part of the country where one could travel for an hour without encountering significant challenges on the road network. The condition of the country’s roads and bridges was a major national infrastructure challenge.

18. Rather than shy away from the problem, the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made the nation’s road network a priority. Virtually every part of the country became a priority, and the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Works, Regional Commissions, Parastatals and other MDA’s has continued to respond extensively to these challenges.

19. The Federal Government is currently working on over 80 percent of the inherited federal roads, an unprecedented level of intervention in the country’s road infrastructure.

20. We ask the public to understand the enormous challenges inherited on our roads and bridges and to take note not only of the problems being solved, but also of the permanent solutions being introduced.

21. A major part of this new approach is the use of reinforced concrete pavement, designed to significantly extend the lifespan of major roads. These roads are expected to last between 50 and 100 years. This means that roads being constructed under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration are being designed with future generations in mind, rather than simply providing temporary solutions to today’s problems. And this is a complete departure from the past, when roads often deteriorated only a few years after completion, resulting in a continuous cycle of reconstruction and expenditure.

22. We appreciate the concerns of Nigerians over the condition of some roads presently and the difficulties faced by motorists and commuters who cannot move easily from one point to another. Those concerns are legitimate, and the Federal Government is listening. But Nigerians should also recognise the enormous scale of the problems inherited and the amount of work currently being undertaken across the country.

23. It is simply impossible to resolve every road challenge accumulated over many years of neglect by the past administrations within three years. What is important is that the government is working, the government is responding, and the government is putting permanent solutions in place.

25. We appreciate members of the public who send situation reports on failed roads and other infrastructure challenges. These reports help the Ministry identify areas requiring urgent attention. However, we also appeal to members of the public to report when such problems have been addressed, just as they report when they occur.

24. We are aware of situations where photographs and reports of road challenges continue to circulate on social media even after the Federal Government has intervened and resolved the particular problem.
25. However, the Ministry will continue to respond as rapidly as possible to genuine reports and concerns from Nigerians.
26. It is also important to note that we have compiled a comprehensive record of all inherited, ongoing and intervention projects across the country which is available to the public. This is to ensure that Nigerians have access to information on the infrastructure projects being undertaken nationwide and can fully participate in and appreciate the infrastructure revolution of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

May

2017

FG’s National Housing Programme To Achieve Affordability And Acceptability.......Fashola The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, has said that the on -going National Housing Programme is a new Housing Policy conceived by the present administration with the aim of achieving acceptability and affordability by Nigerians. The Housing policy is geared towards providing affordable housing for Nigerians in both private and public sectors. He said this in an interview on Sunrise Daily, Channels Television, while appraising his performance in the housing sector in the past two years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. The Minister further noted that for houses to be appreciated by Nigerians, they must pass the test of acceptability because Nigeria is a country with multifaceted ethnic and cultural background and climatic conditions. What is acceptable to a Northerner may not be to a southerner. Fashola noted that the Ministry is currently constructing about 2,000 pilot scheme Housing Units in 33 States of the country with targeted beneficiaries within an income bracket of grade level 8 - 14 in both private and public sectors. He also disclosed that the Minister of State, Mustapha Baba Shehuri, had undergone inspection tour of houses under construction in the 33 States and expressed satisfaction at the work done so far, adding that some of the housing constructions are at the roofing and lintel stages. The Minister advised Nigerians to embrace and key into the concept of mortgages as a means of financing home ownership because that is the practice in other countries. He said the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and Federal Housing Authority (FHA) being Parastals of the Ministry are alive to their responsibilities of meeting the housing needs of Nigerians with construction of Housing Estate across the nation. ...

May

2017

Reconcile Nation’s Land Evaluation System With Economic Realities, Fashola Charges Estate Valuers * As Minister inaugurates reconstituted Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board * Urges them to make the practice of estate valuation simple enough and responsive to the man on the Street * Tasks new Board to spearhead development of open, nationwide valuation for real estate in different parts of the country The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN, Tuesday inaugurated the reconstituted Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) with a charge on the Board to reconcile the disparity between the country’s land evaluation system and the current economic realities. In his remarks before the brief ceremony at the Ministry’s Headquarters in Abuja, Fashola also urged the professionals to develop an open evaluation for the different parts of the country as well as evolve means of making the practice of estate valuation simple enough and responsive to the man on the street. Noting that because of the global economic slowdown property owners in some other jurisdictions were offering discounts on their properties to ensure optimum occupancy, the Minister wondered why the reverse was currently the case in the country where, according to him, the economy was being greatly challenged by tight capital. He told his guests, “For me, I think the most important lessons that I like to share at this inauguration is to pose the question to you whether the current land evaluation system and values are consistent with the realities of our economy. You, as experts, must answer that question”. “In a very challenging economy where cash is clearly tight, is the market value really responding appropriately? Are these values consistent with reality? Why are we not seeing rates and rents and values drop? Why are we having many houses unoccupied where people are looking for accommodation?”, Fashola further asked. The Minister, who noted that property owners in the country had often argued that the properties were valued higher so they could have an “impact on percentages and commissions”, added, “As we reconstitute the new board and as we work together to rebuild our economy, those are the questions that I would like to leave you with to respond to”. Recalling recent news that property sellers in the United Kingdom were, because of BREXIT, offering discounts to citizens, Fashola, who cited as proof that markets react to policies, added, “Many years ago our Stock Market was immune to policies. But you see today that we have a stock exchange that ranks with some of the best in the world because it reflects the realities of our economy in many respects”. The Minister charged the Board, “So I will like to see, therefore, that as you take up the mantle of leadership today after inauguration, these are issues that I think you should put into the front burner agenda in terms of how you regulate the practice and also the quality of people that you admit to the practice”, expressing regrets that in real estate transactions in the country the customer was clearly not king even with his money. Emphasizing the importance of Estate Surveyors and Valuers in the economic growth of the country, Fashola declared, “These are people whose core professional mandate is really putting value on land. The main business that they undertake is the business of how land is turned from a dormant asset really into a valuable asset”. According to him, “All of those who are involved in one form of enterprise or the other must first of all appreciate the value of land as a major capital formation asset; whether it is for small businesses, whether it is for large corporations, whether it is for markets or motor parks. I can’t really think of a business that one wants to undertake where land is not a critical part whether it is just to own a small office or a small kiosk where you can sell very basic things, even to roast corn”. He continued, “The Ministry of Power Works and Housing employs a number of Estate Valuers for many reasons, as you all know. Whether you are building new roads where we need to acquire Right-of-Way, sometimes compensations have to be paid for farmlands and all of that, you are the people we turn to for evaluation”, adding that some of the members were currently involved in the Second Niger Bridge project as valuers for the government. Some of the members, the Minister said, have also been recruited to the Power side now in the development of the Mambila Hydro Power Dam in terms of assessing the land that needed and ultimately quantifying for compensation to be paid while some were employed in the new Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) where the Ministry had to acquire Right-of-Way for its transmission lines. Charging the Board to ensure greater transparency in the Built Industry, Fashola further charged the members to evolve means to make the practice of Estate Valuation simple enough and responsive to the man on the street pointing out that other jurisdictions have evolved property calculators where all one needed to do was to index one’s location and that of his property to have a fair value of what his asset was worth. The Minister said one of the areas where Nigeria’s Ease of Doing Business ranking could improve was in the area of real estate valuation, “especially how to develop a harmonised code of charges” adding, “We had this problem back at state level where we found out that we were charging about 10 per cent gross on fees and taxes while other countries close to us were charging one and two per cent. But the truth was that the values were not real”. “They were not market values and the solution was to invoke market values so that within its jurisdiction you have a fair market value of what the rate applicable to each piece of real estate, whether it was developed or undeveloped, there was a floor and a ceiling per square metre and on that basis, we crashed the rate to about three per cent”, he said. The Minister argued that although it may look profitable to charge X values as fees today, when considered that out of every ten possible businesses, the competition would take about six, “because of more competitive rates”, adding, “Are you really doing good business?” He challenged the members “to develop a very open and possibly nationwide valuation for real estate in different parts of the country”, adding “So that at least in Jabi, for example we can know what is the minimum rate of undeveloped property is per square metre and what the maximum rate should be if it is not developed”. “If it is developed, at least we will have an idea as distinct from Maitama, Asokoro; as distinct from may be GRA Ibadan or GRA Kaduna and so on. At least there will be some database and I don’t think that this in any way imperils your ability to continue to render professional service”. Congratulating the Chairman and members of the reconstituted Board, Fashola who noted with pleasure the broad mix of experience and value that were brought to the Board, Fashola declared, “This Board has, among many other responsibilities, the responsibility for registering persons who are fit and qualified to serve and practice as Estate Surveyors and Valuers and also to the responsibility to regulate the standard and the knowledge and the general practice of the profession in our country”. “These are the people whose core professional mandate is really putting value on land. The main business that they undertake is the business of how land is turned from a dormant asset really into a valuable asset and then all of those who are involved in one form of enterprise or the other must first of all appreciate the value of land as the major capital formation asset”, he said. In his remarks, Chairman of the of the Board, Mr. Olayinka Sonaike, thanked the Minister and the Federal Government for the opportunity and privilege given the members to serve on the Board adding that the members of the profession were in a fit position to contribute to the economic growth of the country. Requesting that the budgetary allocation to the Board be released to it expeditiously after the signing of the 2017 Appropriation Bill, the Chairman pledged that with the collaboration of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, the Board would carry out its job effectively. He said the Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers of Nigeria had already completed a database of properties in Lagos State with the intention to work in other states of the Federation promising that the Board would continue to work toward reconciling the disparity between land evaluation system in the country and her economic realities. Also at the brief ceremony were the Director for Land and Housing Development, Rev. Olurotimi Onabanjo and Director Information, Mr Adebisi Agbonhin, Specially Advisers as well as other top officials of the Ministry while the Chairman of the newly inaugurated Board was accompanied by the Vice Chairman of the Board as well as other top officers and members of the Board. ...

May

2017

Fashola Charge Estate Valuers On Ease Of Doing Business In Nigeria The Minister of Power, Works & Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, has challenged the newly reconstituted board of Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) to come up with harmonized code of charge that will promote ‘’real estate’’ as this will impact on the ease of doing business in Nigeria. He stated this at the inauguration ceremony of the new board at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja. The Minister charged them to develop an open and nation-wide valuation of real estate database across the nation in order to greatly improve and grow the nation’s economy. Fashola congratulated the chairman and members of the Board and expressed confident in the broad mix of experience and values the Board is bringing to the nation. The Minister added that ‘’these are people, whose professional mandate is really putting value to light in the area of over seeing how land is turned from dormant into a valuable asset’’. In his remarks, the Chairman of Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria, Esv. Olayinka Sonaike, on behalf of the 21 newly inaugurated board members expressed appreciation to be called upon to serve in a rather different capacity of regulating the practise of the profession. Sonaike stated that the profession is willing to collaborate with the Ministry in the on-going construction of Housing Units across the nation under the National Housing Programme of the Buhari’s administration. He urged that the board be given necessary support to play its regulatory role as expected. The Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria among other responsibilities is charged with registering persons who are fit and qualify to serve and practice as Estate Surveyors and Valuers; and also regulate the knowledge and the general practice of the profession in the country. ...