Years after reconstruction commenced on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Federal Government has set November 2023 as the delivery date of the ever-busy expressway.
The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi made this known while speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme monitored by The Matrix. He identified funding as a major challenge facing the project, assuring that his ministry will approach President Bola Tinubu for intervention.
“Let’s give it November,” Umahi said in reaction to when the federal road will be completed. “We may have a little bit of challenges on funding but it is something that I intend to discuss with Mr President,” he added.
“The funding is coming from the PIDF – Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund – programme. Right now, we have a balance of N18 billion on that axis to pay. The stringent condition is that you cannot take funds that are meant for one project to do the other one.”
According to him, the completion of the project will come from the initiative of President Tinubu.
Earlier, Umahi stressed the importance of concrete roads, saying the Federal Government is considering using concrete for the construction of major roads across the country.
He said the importation of bitumen is putting more pressure on the naira, Umahi maintained that many roads built on concrete have a life span of 50 years.
Umahi noted that President Tinubu, who served as Lagos State Governor between 1999 to 2007, is one of the foundational sponsors of concrete roads.
“Mr President is not new to concrete roads. While he was governor, he could be said to be one of the foundational sponsors of concrete roads,” he added.
“He did (and does) understand that when you have a very high water table and when you have constant rainfall most of the time, you need concrete. Concrete is very friendly with the rain. So, he did quite a number of concrete roads.
“Even another aspect of concrete roads which is interlocking, you go to Victoria Island [in Lagos], you (will) see it. If anyone goes bad, you just remove it, clean it up, and fill it with sharp sand. I should say that is his (Tinubu’s) idea.”
