Senate Pushes Bigger FERMA Budget, Orders Emergency Rescue of Failed Federal Roads

• Approves N15.06bn intervention on Benue road, warns Works Ministry to prioritise rehabilitation over new projects

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate on Thursday mounted fresh pressure on the federal government to significantly increase funding for the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), insisting that deteriorating federal highways across the country require urgent rehabilitation rather than continued emphasis on new road construction.

The resolution came as the upper chamber approved emergency intervention on the badly damaged 28-kilometre Oyagede–Ogobia Road in Benue State and urged the federal government to rehabilitate at least two critical federal roads in each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The decision followed the adoption of the report of the Senate Joint Committee on FERMA and National Security on the condition of the Oyagede–Ogobia Road in Ohimini Local Government Area of Benue State.