Buhari budgets N248bn for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, roads
N248.5bn has been allocated by the federal government to support ongoing road development across the country.
This came to light following a review of the 2023 appropriations bill that President Major General Muhammadu Buhari(retd) submitted to the National Assembly in Abuja on Friday.
In his address, the President praised the progress that had been done in repairing and rebuilding vital highways like the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Expressway, and the East–West Road in the Niger Delta.
He also hoped to get these projects up and running before his term ended in 2023.
Public-private partnerships, the Sukuk Bonds program, the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund, the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority all contributed to the funding of these projects.
Complementary funding for the expansion of the Abuja-Keffi dual carriageway; dualization of the Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi Road in Nasarawa and Benue States; and completion of the 9th Mile (Enugu)-Otukpo-Makurdi Road in Enugu and Benue States, valued at N32.5bn, are among the upcoming road projects.
Other road projects include the N101.1bn Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia road repair project, the N100m Takum-Wukari road Chanchangi bridge in Taraba State, and the N250m Jattu-Fugar-Agenebode road dualization and Irekpa-Fugar-Agenebode road reconstruction in Edo State.
The Nupeko/Patigi bridge spanning the River Niger connecting the cities of Nupeko and Patigi in the states of Niger and Kwara also received funding of N400 million.
The cost to repair the Maiduguri-Monguno road is estimated at N250m, while the cost to repair the Wukari/Akwana road in Taraba State is estimated at N150m.
Construction of a joint border bridge at Mfum/Ekok under the Nigeria/Cameroun international highway was valued at N500m, while rebuilding of the Igboho Oloko -Agbonle road cost N250m and rehabilitation of the Damaturu-Biu road in Yobe/Borno states will cost N300m.
Construction of the Apapa-Oworonshoki-Ojota Expressway is estimated to cost N1m, rehabilitation of the Ilorin-Kabba-Obajana road in the Kwara/Kogi states is estimated to cost N400m, and comprehensive repair works of the Eko Bridge (4.1km) in Lagos State are estimated to cost N75m.
The CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Muda Yusuf, responded that the sum was woefully inadequate, saying that instead, annually roughly N1tn should be set aside for road improvements.
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