By Henry Umoru

ABUJA—THE National Assembly, yesterday, called on Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to urgently sack the Acting Managing Director of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA, Engr. Peter Odey Ibu, over woeful performance, despite the N10 billion allocated to the agency in 2016 budget.

The National Assembly noted that for lack of maintenance by FERMA, some Nigerian roads had become death traps.

According to NASS, FERMA did not achieve anything in 2016 budget.

The Senate and House of Representatives joint Committee on FERMA said the management of FERMA still had challenges in sincerity and honesty in discharging its duties, stressing that the time was ripe for it to stand up to save the face of the agency from total collapse.

SENATE CHAMBER

The issues were raised yesterday when the Acting Managing Director of FERMA, Peter Odey Ibu, led other management of the agency on the defence of 2017 budget before the joint Committees of Senate and House of Representatives.

The call for sack of Ibu came, following the contribution of a member of the committee, Magaji Aliyu, representing Birnin Kudu/Buji Federal constituency, who took the leadership of FERMA to task for lack of responsibility.

He regretted that he agency was bothered by the numerous death of Nigerians on the highways on a daily basis.

He said:  “The leadership of FERMA does not seem to be responsible. People are dying everyday, six persons died along Kano/Kaduna road just yesterday and the agency had N10 billion appropriation in 2016 budget which is not utilized.

“Decisive action should be taken against FERMA. The Managing Director should be changed, those in charge of the agency should be    removed, people are dying and you keeping N10 billion, while Nigerians are losing their lives on high ways.”

On his part, Chairman, Senate Committee on FERMA, Senator Magnus Abe, APC, Rivers South East, decried the state of roads in the country, adding that for lack of maintenance, some roads had become dilapidated.

He also said the agency had failed totally in its 2016 budget performance, achieving nothing.

Senator Abe, who noted that the management still had challenges in the area of sincerity and honesty in discharging its duties, said the time was ripe for the management to stand up and save the agency from total collapse.

“It may not be your fault entirely for not performing,vis-a-vis funding challenges, but there are also challenges of sincerity and honesty,’’ he said.

The chairman, who promised to work for adequate funding of the agency, however, asked the management to have a clear cut expectations for the year.

He said:  “Let’s say that we like to hear and understand the expectation of FERMA for 2017, believing that if we work together, we will be able to change the narratives of the agency.”

On his part, FERMA Acting Managing Director/CEO, Engr. Peter Ibu, explained that series of financial challenges was responsible for the agency’s inability to meet up with its mandates of road maintenance across the nation in 2016.

He  said the agency lacked trained accounts staff to handle TSA and the need to satisfy certain requirements to secure sub-TSA accounts for field offices, adding that the agency was almost grounded in 2016 because of difficulty in accessing funds appropriated to it as well as delay in budgetary approval which took off in May last year.

He said:  “Distinguished senators, Hon. members, challenges posed by newly introduced zero-based budget process and TSA policy, difficulties in accessing funds directly a