Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge To Be Completed In 2022 – Fashola

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has assured Nigerians that the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Second Niger Bridge will be completed in 2022.

Fashola disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Works to defend his ministry’s 2022 budget.

He said “The Lagos/Ibadan express road is scheduled for completion in 2022. At the moment, we have done cumulatively about 90 kilometres in sections one and two.

“For the second Niger Bridge, the plan is to complete it in 2022 and it is on schedule. The contractors tell us that the bridges will be fully connected by the end of quarter one in 2022.

“So, by the end of the first quarter, you can walk on it from the beginning to the end. We lost some time during the COVID but they are working to gain the time lost.”

The minister revealed that 21 roads across the six geopolitical zones were selected for completion by the NNPC under the Credit Tax scheme.

He added that funds already budgeted for such roads in the budget will be retained in the various zones and used to complete other roads.

Fashola disclosed that the Works ministry is owing contractors to the tune of N420.58 billion for work already done as of October 20, 2021.

He said apart from the pressure of resources to pay, there was the inadequacy of annual budgetary provisions “where N100m or N200m is provided for roads costing 20 or more billions of naira”.