ASHENEWS reports that Niger state Lawmakers have raised concerns over delays in road and drainage projects, particularly in urban and rural areas, urging the state Ministry of Works to take decisive action to ensure contractors meet project deadlines.
These observations were made during the Ministry’s 2025 budget screening, reviewing the Ministry’s budget performance and project execution.
During the session, the lawmakers highlighted complaints from residents about prolonged road construction work disrupting access to homes and businesses. They pointed to stalled road projects in Minna and other areas, where drainage and earthworks have remained incomplete for extended periods.
The Chairman of the House Committee of Works, Honorable Suleiman Abubakar Gomna noted the significant impact on local communities, stating, “Most streets have been inaccessible for months, affecting businesses and daily life. This has caused untold hardship to residents.”
“Very soon, after some months, the rainy season will come back. We need to push them to do more because, in most streets, most people have been denied access to their houses. We have a lot of complaints from the public about how the roads are disturbing the movement of people in several areas.
“Though we keep asking them that things like this will happen before you get development. But once it keeps on like this for a long period, at the end of the day, it affects businesses around that particular area.”
The lawmakers cited issues such as poor contractor capacity, inadequate funding, and lack of proper supervision as reasons for the delays. A member of the Committee representing Katcha Constituency, Yakubu Abdulmalik Bala questioned the ministry’s oversight, asking, “Are these delays due to contractors’ incompetence, lack of funding, or inadequate supervision? Why are so many road projects stagnant?”
The Legislators also expressed frustration over the lack of traffic management and safety measures at construction sites especially in Minna and Suleja citing incidents of accidents due to poor signage and inadequate road diversions with the call to the ministry to ensure the contractors are held accountable for incidents that may arise due to lack of traffic management and safety measures.
“Traffic is non-directional. There is no direction as far as traffic is concerned today in Minna metropolis. Everybody is going the way he wants. One of the jobs of the contractors handling the roads is to ensure that they regulate the traffic to tell the people to go this way or that way.
“But everything is just anyhow. Let the ministry constantly remind the contractors of the need for them to put roadside signs, especially in the metropolis”, the Legislators representing Lavun, Yusuf Dabba stated.
They also criticized the quality of materials used in some projects, questioning whether proper approvals had been granted stressing that it is unacceptable for the contractors to provide substandard work while using state funds.
To mitigate delays and ensure project completion, the lawmakers urged the ministry to enforce strict monitoring and push contractors to expedite work emphasizing the need to fulfill promises made to residents before the end of the current administration.
The Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Suleiman Umar, while responding to these concerns, attributed part of the delay to heavy rains that halted construction activities during the rainy season, assuring lawmakers that contractors have resumed work with revised plans, adhering to a new directive to complete one-kilometre sections of roads and drainages before proceeding further.
The Commissioner also informed the assembly that the Federal Ministry of Works recently handed over several federal roads in the state for rehabilitation, including Minna-Bida and Rijau-Kontagora roads. He noted that these roads will now be constructed to federal standards, emphasizing collaboration between the state and federal governments.
Umar pledged to address the concerns and assured the lawmakers that the ministry is committed to delivering quality projects expressing hope that the proposed budget, once approved, would provide the necessary resources to accelerate ongoing projects and improve supervision.
