By Omowumi Omotosho
The Federal Ministry of Works has earmarked N4 billion for the construction of a presidential helipad and jetty in Lagos State as part of its 2025 budget.
The expenditure, according to reports by The Cable, was outlined in the ministry’s projected spending within the 2025 appropriation bill, which President Bola Tinubu presented to the National Assembly on December 18, 2024.
Titled โBudget of Restoration: Securing Peace and Rebuilding Prosperity,โ Tinubu described the N49.7 trillion budget as a blueprint for ensuring peace, fostering prosperity, and rekindling hope for a brighter future for Nigeria.
A detailed analysis of the budgetโs โline itemโ segment reveals that the Ministry of Works plans to allocate N1.057 trillion for various construction and rehabilitation projects. This allocation includes N240 million for public school construction, N724 billion for road projects, and N40.6 billion for other infrastructure developments.
Regarding rehabilitation efforts, the ministry has set aside N340 million for public schools, N289.4 billion for roads, and N2.48 billion for office buildings.
Key road projects featured in the budget include N10 billion for the dualisation of the Kano-Maiduguri road (Section V), linking Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Yobe, and Borno states; N6 billion for reconstructing the Abuja-Lokoja road; and N12 billion for the first section of the Kano-Wudil-Shuarin road.
Additional allocations include N34 billion for the dualisation of the Kano-Katsina road, N23 billion for rehabilitating sections three and four of the Enugu-Port Harcourt road, and N75 billion for phase one of the Kano-Katsina road dualisation.
Other road projects comprise N15 billion for repairing failed sections of the Bauchi-Jigawa state border road, N1 billion for asphalting the David Umahi Federal Medical University road, and N2 billion as counterpart funding for the Lekki Axial road.
The ministry also allocated funds for other expenses, including N5 billion for judgment debts, N5 billion for legal fees, N280 million for maintaining seven generators, and N1.7 billion for renovating office buildings.
Further budgeted items include N77.1 billion for public-private partnership (PPP) negotiations, N15 billion for an independent engineer on the Abuja-Makurdi road, N10.25 billion for a pilot HDMI corridor engineer, and N10 million for media consultant engagement.
