FG vows to complete Lagos-Ibadan expressway ahead of schedule

The reconstruction work going on at the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, would be completed before the set date. Disclosing this at the weekend, Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, declared that the project could be delivered twelve months earlier than the initial forty-eight months schedule.

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Accident kills 4, injures 20 in Ibadan

Three passengers lost their lives at dawn on Sunday, while 15 others were seriously injured in a fatal motor accident which occurred at Awolowo junction, along U.I.-Secretariat road in Ibadan, Oyo State, when two buses collided with each other.

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N300bn raised for Lagos-Ibadan expressway project

The Federal Government is mobilising about N300 billion from private investors under Public Private Partnership for the construction and rehabilitation of three major roads in Nigeria.

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RCC begins construction work on Lagos-Ibadan expressway

International engineering and construction company, RCC has commenced work on a segment of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

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Reconstruction work begins on collapsed Ariyo bridge

Work has begun at the site of the collapsed bridge at Ariyo area along Olorunsogo - Amuloko highway. The road which is plied daily by tens of thousands of vehicles is also one of the roads that link Ibadan to Ogun state.

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FG to re-introduce toll gates along Lagos-Ibadan expressway

The federal government of Nigeria has revealed plans to reintroduce the popular toll gates along selected major highways and bridges including the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the new bridge across River Niger at Asaba-Apakun. 

Nigeria's Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, revealed this yesterday while speaking in Abuja at a forum on roads and bridges. He said the policy would enable government to grow the economy, bring services to the communities and ensure safety of road-users.

“Currently, the Federal Government does not have enough resources to keep the roads and bridges on good state at all the times, as a result, it is attracting additional investment by increasing the role of the private sector in the design, construction, management, maintenance and upgrading of the federal roads and bridges network through Public-Private Partnership (PPPs). Toll revenue will make it possible,” he noted. 

It would be recalled that most of the federal roads across the country were in the past subjected to tolling, which were at the time collected by the authorities of the then Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. Unfortunately, the same tollgates were later dismantled by former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo-led civilian administration following reported cases of massive corruption in the system.

The minister also stated that government is now trying to correct this past mistake, hence it has begun series of consultations, including the stakeholders’ forum. He said after the wider society has submitted its reports on the workability of the policy, government will come up with a final document, which shall be sent to the Federal Executive Council for approval and the President will assent to it.
 

According to the minister, when the policy is fully operational, key benefits of the tolling policy will include, improving the quality and safety of Nigerians, as there will be thousands of kilometers of world-class roads added to the road network, encouraging international best practices coupled with affordability for road-users and provision of incentives for further private investments.
 

He said that concessionaires will change the tolls and they will be responsible for the building and maintenance of the roads, even as government will give preference to tolling by established, experienced and reputable private firms.
 

On when the concessionaire will start charging toll, the minister stressed that it may only be levied once a road is completed and integrated with the road network.

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