Union wants FG to declare state of emergency on roads

The Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) has called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency on Nigerian roads.

This was contained in a statement signed by Sikiru Waheed for the national secretary of the union, noting that the poor state of roads required that a state of emergency be declared until they are fixed.

He also said the comment credited to the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, that Nigerian roads were not so bad, was a slap on the faces of Nigerians.

“The attention of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) has been drawn to a statement credited to the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Mr.

Babatunde Fashola (SAN) that “Nigerian roads are not as bad as they are often portrayed in different quarters”.

“AUPCTRE views the statement of the minister as a slap on Nigerians. It could clearly be seen that the roads are so deplorable and had led to many unwarranted ghastly accidents resulting in untimely deaths of our people.

“AUPCTRE further considers the statement of Fashola as anti-people and challenge him to shun air travel for some time to enable him have a firsthand experience of the state of Nigerian roads, Waheed said in the statement.

The union expressed worry that the federal government’s allocation of N169bn for roads in the 2020 budget proposal is abysmally small to cater for the six geo-political zones.

According to him, the figure was a far cry from the N3trn proposed by the Council for the Registration of Engineers that would be required to maintain the nation’s road infrastructure.