The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, says the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has achieved more in infrastructure development in six years than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did in 16 years under three presidents.
He said the achievement is despite the administration having smaller resources than the preceding PDP administrations.
Mr Fashola said this on Thursday at the Progressives Leadership Conversational Series held at Briston Palace in Kano.
The dialogue series, broadcast live by some radio stations in Kano, provided a platform for interaction between residents of the state and the minister on issues of governance.
Mr Fashola presented pictures of projects and commendations of a cross-section of Nigerians to buttress his claim on the performance of the Buhari administration in the last six year.
“Infrastructure is the most legitimate way to distribute money in an economy from the top to the bottom,” said Mr Fashola who has coordinated the work of the administration in the sector as the minister since November 2015.
“From six years ago, this government led by President Muhammadu Buhari, as far as infrastructure is concerned, has been doing what the United States Government is still trying to do – they are still trying to pass the infrastructure bill and they are still fighting, if you follow their politics. So there is a connection.
“Go to the inaugural speech of any local government chairman, any governor, any prime minister, any president in the last 50 years and see if you will find one where there is no commitment to building infrastructure because they got it and this government also got it,” Mr Fashola said.
“The change APC promised Nigerians is happening because a three hours journey is now 30 minutes,” the minister said, after quoting a testimony from a commuter plying the completed section of the Sokoto -Tambuwal road linking Kebbi and Niger states.
“Infrastructure projects by the APC administration are making life less expensive for Nigerians, people are saving money, putting them on the step of prosperity and that was part of the president’s commitment to lift 100 million people out of poverty,” he added.
Mr Fashola, however, failed to address the spike in kidnapping cases and banditry that have bedevilled many Nigerian roads.
What differentiates APC from PDP
The minister disagreed with the people he said often say the APC and PDP are the same. “That is not true. We are not the same, even though, some of them have joined us.
“The same opportunity we had for six years, they had it for 16 years and this is the area (infrastructural development) where we are not only different but we are better. The PDP had the same opportunity longer and more resources,” he added.
“The basis of the progressive ideology is to improve the human condition. Nigerians are now saying that you did this and our lives are better. The PDP cannot reproduce this kind of stories in 16 years. It is a major area of difference, when we have resources we commit it to improving human condition.”
Despite rising insecurity on Nigerian roads, he said residents ”are now feeling the impact of the Kano-Maiduguri highway that had been under construction for years”.
