The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, says his ministry had fared well in 2016 than the previous year based on the budgetary provision and due process in the award of contracts.
He made the remark while delivering a report of his first year performance in office in Lagos.
Mr Fashola also said a lot was being done to improve on power generation and transmission as well as the state of federal roads.
With a budget size of 260 billion Naira against 18 billion Naira set for works in the previous year, over 200 road projects have already been contracted out, with an outstanding completion cost of about 1.5 trillion Naira.
The minister, who first gave an insight into the first challenge he had to grapple with, said there were liabilities ranging from outstanding payment to contractors.
Faced with the task of limited resources in the light of huge liabilities, it became paramount to prioritise projects effectively and efficiently.
Road projects cut across the six geopolitical zones, including the Tambuwal-Mekera Kontagora road, Ilorin-Jebba, Lagos-Shagamu and aba Port Harcourt roads.
On power, the minister said 24 billion Naira was approved for the year and that expansion work had started at different parts of the country in order to improve wheeling and transmission capacity.
“The maximum power we have generated this year is 5,000 plus. The current transmission capacity is about 5,900 (megawatts) and it is growing progressively.
“What it must do is that it must stay marginally ahead of the generation capacity,” he told reporters.
After his comments on efforts to improve power supply in Nigeria, questions on tariff and low cost housing were raised.
The housing sector appears not to have seen much action. However, tenders have been considered and over 500 contracts are set to be awarded with 27 states already keyed into the projects.
He gave a breakdown of the items needed for the housing facility.
With the rural electrification implementation programme set for roll out, over 42 bridges getting attention and much more happening in 2017, the nation’s economy that is in recession may just be getting repositioned for a bounce back.
