FG says Lagos-Badagry Expressway not forgotten, tops Sukuk funding priority list

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has assured that the Federal Government has not forgotten the ongoing Lagos-Badagry Expressway rehabilitation/reconstruction project as it is on the 2021 Sukuk funding priority list.

This follows the funding challenges which has slowed down the pace of work on the project and the moves by the government to fully resolve them.

The assurance was given by Fashola during an inspection tour of road projects in Lagos state on Saturday, April 3, 2021.

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What the Minister of Works and Housing is saying

Fashola said that major drainage works were currently going on to upgrade the highway from its old status and ensure durable construction, noting that funding challenges were being resolved.

He said, “Lagos-Badagry Expressway is the real challenge. Again it is funding. We are owing the contractor. That is why I said if we can expand the Sukuk this year, we are going to look at a few more roads to add to it.

If we succeed Lagos-Badagry Expressway is one of the top roads we are pencilling down for the Sukuk in 2021. If that happens, then the contractor will do his work but I think it is important to help us communicate to the people who use that axis that they are not forgotten.

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Work has started. There was a time when there was no contractor there, so, there is now a contractor,’’ the Minister said.

He pointed out that the Federal Government is diligently executing the project to ensure quality durable construction with adequate channels as the road has now become a superhighway due to development on that corridor.

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What you should know

• Nairametrics had earlier reported that the Lagos State Government has moved to ensure the quick completion of the ongoing work on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway with the setting up of a 7-man ad-hoc committee, headed by the Deputy Governor of the state, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, with a mandate to have a dialogue with the Federal Government and secure a guarantee for quick completion of ongoing work on the Okokomaiko-Seme Border stretch of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
• The extensive reconstruction of the expressway, which began in 2010, involves the widening of the road from 4 lanes to 10 lanes for vehicles, and a new mass transit line that will operate in the median.
• The project, which has faced a series of delays, also includes a light rail project with train stations.