'Hold governors, council chairmen for bad roads in states, councils'

The Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, has exonerated the Federal Government from any blame over the deplorable condition of roads in states and local councils across the country, stating that the two tiers of government have enough resources to fix their roads.

Speaking in Minna Monday when he declared open the 38th National Conference of Directors of Electrical/Mechanical Engineering Departments in federal ministries, Onolememen said that every tier of government has it own roads and should maintain them.

According to the minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Malam Abubakar Mohammed, all tiers of government collect money from the Federation Account every month. He disclosed that out of the estimated 194,200km of roads across the country, the Federal Government has only 34,120km, representing 17.6 per cent while states and local councils have 30,500km (15.7 per cent) and 129.580 (66.7 per cent) respectively.

Onolememen said the theme of the conference, Improving the Quality of Engineering Infrastructure on Nigerian Roads, was not only appropriate at this time of the country's transformation but also a manifestation of government's determination to ensure that right engineering skills were deployed to improve the facilities on the roads.