Umahi to meet Dangote, others over high cost of cement

The minister of works, Senator David Umahi, has promised to dialogue with cement manufacturers over the possibility of reducing the prices of their products.

Umahi gave the hint while featuring on Sunrise Daily, a ChannelsTV programme.

The minister said contractors have complained over the high cost of cement in Nigeria and made claims that importing the product would be cheaper.

“I’m going to be running figures with them (cement manufacturers) to check the cost of cement if we import it and the cost they are giving us here,” he said.

“A lot of contractors have complained that it is cheaper to import, but we are not allowed to import cement because we have to help the cement industries, but they also have to be reasonable with us if we are going to be patronising them.

“There is a need to use concrete technology. It’s going to make our roads last for a minimum of 50 years.”

The works minister also revealed that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is ready to provide funds for the construction of quality roads in the country.

“We are looking at all these things. How do we cut down costs? Because the primary issue is also the cost of construction.”

Africa’s richest businessman, Aliko Dangote, has cement manufacturing companies is some states in Nigeria.