By Onyebuchi Sampson
The Federal Government has expressed its commitment to attaining 80 per cent completion of the Lagos-Badagry road project in 2022.
Director of Federal Highways in South West, Mr Adedamola Kuti, disclosed this during inspection of section three of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway project, which spans from Agbara to Seme Border being supervised by the Federal Ministry of Works.
Kuti said that the project was about 25 percent completed and with the government continuing funding, the project will reach 80 percent completion before the end of this year.
According to him, about 17 kilometers had been completed on various stretches on the Badagry bound lane, while measures were on to further speed up the pace of construction works.
He stressed that the N15 billion Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Tax Credit funding was speeding up construction works on the Badagry expressway project,
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He said: “So far, NNPC funds have brought in a lot of relief to this job. We have been able to pay some of the outstanding bills for certified works that have been done. So, our certificate number four and five has been paid up by NNPC.
“That is why you are seeing this tremendous progress that is ongoing on this road. NNPC funding for this job is just about 15 Billion Naira but we have been assured that the government will not stop funding.”
He said that the contract was awarded in 2018 but due to funding constraints actual construction began in earnest between 2020 and 2021 after the SUKUK funding came in, adding that, subsequently the NNPC Tax Credit Scheme.
“From December 2021 and this year 2022, this project has been placed under the Tax Credit initiative of the Federal Government that is being sponsored and being financed by the NNPC.
“We are here to see the progress that has been made so far on this road. This road is very sensitive to the Federal Government.
“Out of the 21 critical roads under NNPC funding we have two in the South West and Lagos-Badagry Expressway happens to be one,” he said.
Kuti explained that from Agbara to Badagry is about 46 kilometres, adding that the road had reached final layers on several portions including the Ibereko community axis.
He said that the progress of work had reduced travel time and impacted Lagos residents plying the highway positively while improving commerce on the axis.
He said more than 300 trucks of cement, over 30,000 trucks of aggregates and over 131 trucks of diesel had been used on the project which had employed over 500 people on the construction site.
Speaking on the construction, the lawmaker representing Badagry in the House of Representatives, Mr Babatunde Hunpe, urged the Federal Government to continue funding the project so that the work would finish on time.
According to the lawmaker, there have been tremendous changes in the pace of work on the road in the last few months.
“I am sure that if this continues the way it is going by December this year, the residents and the people passing through the expressway will have cause to smile and thank the government more.
“I am appealing to the residents to cooperate with the construction workers so that the project will continue without any issues,” he said.
Also, the Onibereko of Ibereko land, Oba Israel Okoya, said in the past, residents spent between five and six hours from Badagry to Mile 2 in Lagos.
“But today we thank the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and Mr Raji Fashola for the tremendous changes we have seen on the road.
“We want to urge the government to continue the good work so that by next year the project will be completed,” he said.
Coordinator, National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYC) Olorunda Local Council Development Area, Mr Abdulsalam Ashade, urged the Federal Government to construct pedestrian bridges for the residents crossing the road.
