States agitating for the transfer of bad and deplorable federal roads to them for repair and maintenance may have to wait till eternity.
This is because the present 1999 constitution has made such request difficult as it will require amendments to the constitution.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Wednesday made the declaration in Abeokuta,the Ogun state capital.
Gbajabiamila, who spoke against the backdrop of agitation that federal roads should be transferred to states for reconstruction, maintenance and control, said such transfer may require the amendment of the Privatisation Act to be achieved.
He spoke in an interview with reporters during his visit to the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
The Speaker noted that under the current constitutional arrangement in the country, federal roads in all states of the federation remained the exclusive assets of the Federal Government.
He, however, pointed out that other models could be worked out in terms of states fixing federal roads in their domains and getting refunds later by the Federal Government.
Gbajabiamila, who agreed that Ogun is an industrial state with certain impassable federal roads, acknowledged that measures must be taken to assist the state to overcome the challenges.
He said: “Ogun is an industrial state, so to speak, and if you have several companies that are developing the state and Nigeria situated in places where they are not passable, it makes that environment very difficult for them to work. So, those observations were received.
“It is for us to look whether it is even possible legally for the Federal Government to transfer federal roads to any states, that I’m not sure how feasible that is. But there is more than one way to skin a cat.
“So even where that is not feasible, it might even require the amendment of the Privatisation Act. It’s the Federal Government assets.
“But if that is not feasible, there are other models that we can look at in terms of other people fixing the roads and then the Federal Government owing them or setting off whatever debts owed by the state, so either way, something definitely needs to be done about those roads.”
The Speaker disclosed that he was in the state to see areas of collaboration between the Federal Government and Ogun State towards the advancement of the state.
Earlier while receiving the Speaker, Abiodun had appealed to him to intercede on behalf of the state government for the release of some federal roads.
The governor stated that he and his Lagos State counterpart, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had already written a letter to President Muhammad Buhari, requesting the release of all affected roads for repairs to ease the movement of people and goods for economic growth but were still awaiting a response.
He explained that some major roads, including Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and Agbara-Lusada Road, among others, were in a state of disrepair, which has consequently affected the socio-economic development of the state.
According to him, many factories at the Agbara Industrial Estate have shut down as a result of deplorable condition of roads.
