The House of Representatives on Thursday urged the Federal Ministry of Works, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to immediately deploy personnel and resources to complement the efforts of the Niger State government in addressing the perennial gridlock on Suleja-Lambata-Bida highway in Niger.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Saidu Abdullahi (APC, Niger) and nine of his colleagues.
They include Abdullahi Garba, Shehu Saleh Rijau, Abdullahi Mahmudu, Ja’afaru Mohammed and Joshua Gana. The rest are Ismaila Modibbo, Adamu Suleja, Yusuf Baraje and Abdul Abubakar; all APC from Niger.
In adopting the motion, the House directed the Ministry to conduct an emergency assessment of the condition of the road, and engage the contractor handling the project to ascertain reasons for delay in execution in a bid to proffer long-term solutions to prevent future occurrences.
While presenting the motion, the principal sponsor, Saidu Abdullahi noted that for the past six days, an unprecedented 18-kilometer gridlock between Lambata and Suleja has crippled the flow of traffic on Suleja-Lambata-Bida highway in Niger State, holding vehicles – tankers, lorries, trucks, and trailers – and motorists hostage;
He said “This road is one of the busiest and most critical federal highways in the nation connecting and facilitating the movement of people, goods, and services, including essential and perishable items between Northern and Western states.
“Informed that the gridlock is caused by some major potholes along Maje to Dikko Junction, a key artery to the nation’s capital city, Abuja.
“Further informed that in light of this situation, small vehicles on emergency journeys have been compelled to take alternative bushy routes via Izom to Suleja; a route fraught with security threats.
“Worried that the current situation has resulted in huge losses in valuable man-hours, impacted negatively on perishable goods, especially Agricultural produce posing severe implications on the economy of the nation and has also heightened the risk of accidents and has made the area prone to criminal activities, thereby compromising the safety of commuters and residents alike.
“Also worried that road users have been subjected to hunger, poor health conditions and untold hardship due to their inability to access quality food, healthcare and transport themselves and goods effectively.
“Disturbed that reports from credible sources indicated that a corpse was discovered abandoned along this alternative route yesterday.
“Also disturbed that the ugly situation poses a serious threat to national security and the well-being of Nigerian citizens.
“Acknowledged that the federal government awarded the contract for the reconstruction and dualization of the first phase of this vital road in 2010 and the second phase in 2015 but even efforts to provide alternative funding through the Presidential Tax Credit Scheme has not yielded the desired result as the pace of work has been alarmingly slow”.
The motion was endorsed without opposition.