By Pita Chib, Minna

A former Director of the National Planning Commission Dr. Haruna Penni has blamed the sorry state of Nigerian roads on the abandonment of the Project Continuity Bill that was presented to the National Assembly aimed at criminalizing abandonment of ongoing projects by successive governments.

Penni  disclosed this on Tuesday  during the conferment of Corporate Award of Excellence on the Management of Niger State Rural Access and Mobility Projects (RAMP-2) by the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) that political leaders, projects managers and contractors have reduced the impacts of public works.

Delivering a lecture titled 'Overview of Implementation of Rural Road Infrastructure in Nigeria with Special Reference to Niger State' Penni called on project Managers to press for the actualization of the Project Continuity Bill.

According to Penni who is also a Consultant to the RTEAN "at all levels of governance, it is observed that Nigeria has been unfortunate with prevalence of resources mismanagement that are otherwise well-conceived projects and programmes designed to uplift the people and mitigate incidences of underdevelopment was turned into nepotic process and instrument of self-gratification, oppression and misplaced priorities.

"A Project Continuity Bill was drafted and presented by the erstwhile National Planning Commission in 2014 and has been transmitted to National Assembly for necessary action.

"The aim is to criminalize abandonment of ongoing projects which are of benefit to Nigerians irrespective of political party or incoming administration."

"it is unfortunate that the Bill has not seen the light of the day up till the present political dispensation. I hereby call on project managers to press for the actualization of Project Continuity Bill before the National Assembly as well as using any model such as Build- Operate- Transfer (BOT), Design- Construct- Maintain- Finance (DCMF); Design- Build- Finance- Operate (DBFO)," he lamented

Earlier, the National President RTEAN, Chief Abubakar Sadiq, advised commuters to avoid boarding vehicles by roadside for their own safety.

Sadiq who was represented by the Secretary General, Abdullahi Jabi, added that RTEAN has a membership of 5.2 million members spread across the 774 LGAs of Nigeria to transport travellers to their various destinations.