President Bola Tinubu has directed the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to adopt a preventive, planned, and evidence-based approach to road maintenance in the country.
Tinubu gave the directive at the 2026 Roads Summit on Tuesday in Abuja.
The President, who was represented at the event by the Secretary to the Governmnt of the Federation, George Akume, also tasked the agency to develop a comprehensive, geo-referenced national database of failed and failing federal roads.
The database, he said, should clearly identify the causes of road failures, whether arising from design limitations, poor construction quality, axle overloading, drainage challenges, climate impacts, or lapses in maintenance.
He called for a shift from reactive road repairs to a sustainable, preventive, and evidence-based maintenance framework, saying long-term infrastructure resilience depended on accurate data and institutional coordination.
” In this regard, I wish to emphasise the strategic importance of systematic road audits and robust data management.
“Sustainable infrastructure management begins with knowing the true condition of our assets.
“Another important factor is that FERMA must continue to strengthen routine road condition audits, safety audits, and post-failure assessments across the federal road network.
“More importantly, the development of a comprehensive, geo-referenced national database of failed and failing federal roads is imperative.
“With accurate and up-to-date data, Nigeria can move decisively from emergency repairs to predictive and preventive maintenance planning,’ the President stated.
