The minister of works, David Umahi, has said that fixing Nigerian roads will help to bring down inflation in the country.

The minister revealed this during his inauguration of the new board of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) in Abuja on Thursday.

He said that the roads all over the country are in a critical state, declaring that the primary need of Nigerians is good roads.

“Road is everything. If we fix our roads today, we will bring down inflation in the country because bad roads are affecting every aspect of our economic activities.”

Mr Umahi urged the newly inaugurated members of the governing board to tackle the challenges of road maintenance bedevilling the country and commit to the road maintenance programmes designed by the Renewed Hope administration of President Bola Tinubu.

Mr Umahi appreciated Mr Tinubu for appointing men with demonstrated integrity and proficiency to serve on the FERMA board and for endorsing the 2023 supplementary budget, featuring solid interventions on federal roads.

The minister reiterated that road infrastructure is critical to the Nigerian economy, adding that these sectors are reliant on road infrastructure, thus affecting the socio-economic development of the country.

“The enhanced budgetary provision for road infrastructure under our dear President shows his commitment to changing the narrative of our road infrastructure.

“This underscores the fact that Mr President understands the plight of our people as far as our road infrastructure is concerned; he’s doing everything within the budget and outside the budget to fix our roads.” Mr Umahi said.

The permanent secretary of the federal ministry of works, Mahmuda Mamman, had earlier tagged the newly inaugurated members of the FERMA board as people of proven competence and experience, conveying his optimism about their ability to perform well.

The managing director of FERMA, Chukwuemeka Agbasi, voiced the commitment of FERMA towards making notable efforts to fix the roads and improve the travel experience of commuters.