Lagos-Ibadan Expressway: Federal Government Committed to Completing the Project- Fashola …. Says Government will complete the road project even if oil price drops to zero The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN has restated the Federal Government’s commitment to completing the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project despite the scarce resources as a result of sharp drop in oil price. The Lagos-Ibadan Highway is a trunk A road located in the South-West region of the country and was contracted in two sections (I and II) to Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and Messrs Reymond Construction (RCC) Limited respectively. At the interactive town hall meeting with stakeholders at Ogere in Ogun State over the weekend, Mr Fashola stated that Section I of the project was the rehabilitation, reconstruction and expansion of Lagos-Ibadan dual carriageway of about 43.6km commencing from old-toll gate at Oregun/Ikosi-Ketu Lagos and terminates at Shagamu Interchange in Ogun State. He stated also that the Section ll which is about 84km starts from Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan and is being handled by RCC. According to Fashola, the rehabilitation, construction and expansion of Lagos- Ibadan dual carriageway, construction of 2nd Niger bridge and the rehabilitation, construction and expansion of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano dual carriageway are strategic infrastructure development projects of Mr. President. “These Highway projects are financed with the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) funded from the Sovereign Wealth Fund and they are National Priority Highway projects,” he said. He said that the Ogere town hall meeting was the third, in a series, his Ministry has organized in order to address the critical conditions militating against the timely completion of the projects explaining that this goes to show that the Buhari administration is committed in bridging the road infrastructure gap of the nation in demonstrating an unfettered funding attention to road projects. Responding to questions from stakeholders at the town hall meeting on the delay in completing the project and other issues bothering on safety of the road users which have become a major problem, he appealed to the contractors to accelerate work to ease traffic flow especially during the forthcoming Christmas Season. He also called on the contractors to build signages and hazard warning signs. “You contractors should remember that you do this work for the people and that you must be passionate in doing it by easing the trauma people go through while on the road, “he added. While calling for the cooperation and patience of the road users, Fashola gave a matching order to truck drivers to move away from the road at the Ogere parking point. He explained that their activities along the Highway was constituting a menace to the road itself. “Truck parking operation is a business, you must plan your parking space, you cannot run your business at the discomfort of other people. Park away immediately today because parking on the Highway is a violation of Highway code.’ Delivery his welcome address, the Director, Highways Construction and Rehabilitation of the Ministry, Engr. Olufunsho Adebiyi noted that the Town Hall Meeting essentially was to enable the benefitting communities see themselves as co-owners and to partner with the Federal Government in achieving this laudable project aimed at cushioning the effects of gridlock on the corridor of the Highway. He added that the initial contract was only for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and expansion of Section l (Lagos to Shagamu interchange) and Section ll (Shagamu Interchange – Ibadan and also the rehabilitation of existing bridges on the road. He stated that considering the heavy traffic on the highway, both contract was changed to include the construction of new flyover bridges, Interchanges and Pedestrian bridges which made the contract sum to be at the tune of N134,861, 785,702.80 and N176, 503,901,413.68 for both Sections 1 & 2 respectively. While explaining the progress of work on the expressway, the Managing-Director of Reynolds Construction Company Nigeria (RCC) Limited Mr. Nabeel Esawi stated that work was moving on well, he added that the total asphalt length in both direction of the road is 95km.  He promised that the work would be delivered on schedule. He lamented the vehicular congestion on the road due to indiscriminate parking by articulated vehicles, vehicular and road traffic accidents, congestion due to inflow of traffic during peak periods etc. Presenting his progress report, the Managing Director of Julius Berger Plc, Dr Lars Richter said the project had been a much-anticipated national infrastructure with immense socio-economic benefits for the adjoining states and the entire nation. He said,” The Section l (One) has the highest traffic volume in Nigeria.  On this stretch of highway not only is there a high way volume of traffic with large commercial activities, but also a large number of commuters who travel in and out of Lagos daily” He explained that despite the challenges, immense level of progress of work has been achieved and the target completion date of third quarter of 2022 would be achieved. In attendance at the town hall meeting were the Minister of Works and Housing, Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Director NSIA, Mr Uche Orji, Representative of Lagos State Governor & Special Adviser Lagos State Governor on Works Mrs. Aramide Adeyoye, and other stakeholders which include, Traditional Rulers, representatives of Igbo and Hausa communities and representatives of Civil Society Organisations. ...

2nd Niger Bridge: 2022 Delivery is Sacrosanct – Fashola The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN has given assurance that the 2nd Niger bridge will be completed and delivered in year 2022 as promised despite delay caused by the impact of covid 19 and disagreement with some people from the communities around the project before they were resolved with the intervention of the Governors of Anambra and Delta States as well as some traditional rulers from the area. Fashola gave this assurance while speaking at a town hall meeting with stakeholders of the project held at the bridge site in Asaba. He said, “Clearly 2022 will be the delivery date for this project as already planned, we might miss a few weeks here and there but nothing substantial.” Let me assure you of Mr. President’s commitment and the Federal Government’s commitment to this.” The Minister,however, stressed the need for peaceful coexistence, sacrifice and patience to ensure the completion of the project. “We need peace to finish this work, we need peaceful coexixtence to finish this work, we need also some sacrifice, we have to give some things in order to get some things and we need some patience”, he said. Fashola disclosed that the total cost of the project is four hundred and fourteen Billion naira. He explained that while the cost of bridge is two hundred and six billion, the 2A and 2B roads will cost two hundred and eight billion naira. He added that the Buhari administration is making the commitment even though the price of oil is now about forty dollar per barrel. While speaking on the economic benefits of the project to the people of the area the Minister said in order to build this bridge the contractors will be buying 644 thousand tonnes of aggregates. They require four Million cubic metres of sand, sixty eight thousand tonnes of cement, 19 Million litres of diesel all of which will be bought from people around the area who deal in such businesses. He further said that the contractor employed over one thousand four hundred workers who are indigenes of the area. On the issue of compensation, the Minster appealed to the Governors of Anambra and Delta states to help engage with the communities to make it easier for the Federal Governmnt to come to agreement with them. Fashola promised that the Ministry will look into the ecological and environmental consequence of the project. Speaking at the occasion, the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa who was represented by the Secretary to the state government expressed profound appreciation to the Federal Government for the project while urging the Minister to expedite action on some federal roads in the state. Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State who deliverd the vote of thanks expressed gratitude to President Buhari for keeping his words on the project and commended the Minster for his commitment to the work. He assured that he will ensure that there is peace in his state. Earlier in his address, the Managing Director of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Dr. Las Weiser described the project as a key national infrastructure with immense economic benefits. He said when completed it will minimize traffic congestion and strengthen the region by boosting trade and commerce nationally and internationally. The Meeting which was well attended was graced by many traditional rulers some of which are: the Obi of Onitsha, , Eze of Okpo Kingdom and Eze of Obosi. The Minister also inspected the progress of work at the bridge and visited the Zik Mausoleum where he promised that effort will be made to preserve the mausoleum and keep it in the pristine condition that it deserves. ...

FG Reiterates Commitment to Completing Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria -Kano Dual Carriageway Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN has reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to completing the ongoing reconstruction of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway. He stated this at the town hall meeting of stakeholders organised by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing held in the Kaduna State University Conference hall, Kaduna on Thursday. Fashola said, “ Mr. President is more passionate and concerned about finishing this road and many others before his constitutional term ends.” He also said the objective of the town hall meeting was to expose the realities and explain the challenges involved in the construction of the road. Responding to various questions from stakeholders who wanted to know why the construction work on the road was taking too long, the Minister explained that one of the reasons why work could not commence early on the road was as a result of the request made by the some members of the National Assembly to expand the road from two lanes to three lanes. In his words, “Shortly after we flagged off the road, we received a letter from the Senators in the National Assembly asking the Federal Government to expand the road from two lanes to three lanes, that was not from us ,it was from the National Assembly,  the Senators and they wrote to the President and copied my Ministry. Explaining further, Fashola stated that based on the directive from the Presidency to undertake that expansion, “we needed to redesign an expansion to accommodate about 40 different bridges on this road to align with the lanes. "So if they are going to expand from two to three lanes, a new design needed to be created. The process for doing that required us to hire a design consultant. We had to follow the procurement process established by the National Assembly,” he said Accordingly he said, the procurement process is a long one which entails advertising, waiting for a period of six weeks after advertisement, reviewing of tender, picking of consultant and going to the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) and finally to the Federal Executive Council for approval to hire a consultant to do the design requested. The Minister also disclosed that, after going through all the processes of procurement for redesigning to three lanes, the Ministry received another instruction to revert back to two lanes due to paucity of fund.   Fashola also attributed the delay in completion to the total length of the road and the process of construction. He explained, “Each Lane is 375km. So if you multiply that by four, we are building a thousand and five hundred kilometres of highway. No matter how hard you tried to work, if there was 25 hours in one day to do this work, we will commit to it, but the truth is that materials take time to react, minimum and maximum processes must be observed. “ Responding to a question on the Kaduna  Western By-pass, the Minister explained that the Kaduna State government  initially requested it to be transferred to  the State and the request was granted, but later due to the inability of the state to raise the financing for it , the commencement of the work was stalled. He added that, a recommendation to put the project under the Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme was later considered and approved. He explained, "As far as the Western By-pass is concerned, let me also say that it is on record, Kaduna State was the first State to apply for the transfer of Federal Road to them, that I recommended to the Federal Executive Council and Council approved and I transferred it to the State Governor in his first term. It was after the unsuccessful attempt by the Kaduna State government to raise financing that we recommended that it be put under the Infrastructure Tax Credit  Scheme.” In her response to some of the questions raised at the the town hall meeting, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs  Zainab Ahmed stated that her ministry would work closely with the Ministry of Works and Housing and Messrs Julius Berger to expeditiously work on the reconstruction of  the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway in order to ensure completion before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. She explained that the issue of funding has been addressed because the Ministry of Finance has given Six hundred and fifty million US dollars ($650,000,000 USD)  to the National Sovereign Investment Authority  (NSIA) whose responsibility is to generate additional fund to ensure that the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway and other designated projects are fully funded. In his address, the leader of the delegation and Chief of Staff to President Muhammad Buhari, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, assured the people that  President Muhammad Buhari’s “commitment is real and is going to be realizable before the end of his tenure.” The Managing Director of Messrs. Julius Berger, who also made presentation at the town hall meeting, revealed that the company has introduced a new innovative Cold Recycling method of constructing roads in Nigeria, which he said is being used for the first time on Nigerian roads for the on going  reconstruction of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway way. He listed the benefits of Cold Recycling as achieving shorter construction time, conservation of resources, cost effectiveness,  enhancing road safety and impacting positively on the environment. The Managing Director also stated that the scope of work on the roads have been divided into  three sections which are; Section One,  Abuja to Kaduna road with 165.5km;  Second Section is Kaduna to Zaria with 73.4km and the Third Section is Zaria to Kano with 137.0km . In attendance at the town hall meeting were the Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe who represented the Governor, representatives of the Niger State Governor, Commissioner for Works and Housing and that of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Engineer Shehu Hadiza Ahmed. Other Stakeholders at the meeting were legislators from both the National and State Assemblies from the concerned states ,  representatives of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Community and traditional institutions. ...