The Federal Government has stated categorically that there would be no re-concession of the Lagos Ibadan Expressway to private investors. This information was disclosed by the Minister of Works, Engr Mike Onolememen who spoke during a working visit to the two contractors, RCC and Julius Berger at the site of the project.
He said, “I want to say that the Federal Ministry of Works is impressed with the work done so far by the two companies. I want to announce that the Federal Government, through the ministry and its transaction adviser on infrastructure, has secured project amount initiative for the actualisation of the project.
“This is apart from the commitment of the Federal Government, which amount to about N50bn. The Private Finance Initiative, which is a way of funding critical infrastructure projects, is very common in the US and it is a novel funding mechanism in Nigeria which is what we are implementing in the ministry.
“Government will not agree to any concession on this road. The government has taken a decision to ensure that it is constructed and well-maintained by taking it away from a failed concession and we are determined to deliver it. The government has secured the N25bn commitment for this year and next year’s fund will follow it. The Federal Government is taking advantage of the PFI initiative so it does not need to give the project to someone else.”
Speaking on the materials being used to develop the road, the minister said they would guarantee a 50 year life span of the road.
He said, “This is the first road that will benefit from the PFI funding. What this means is that this road will be completed as scheduled. It will also be a model for our other projects. The improved material we are using to construct this road will give the road a 50-year life span despite the heavy traffic on it.
“We have found out that existing bitumen we were using on this road before was not good enough to sustain the traffic. We have also designed operation and maintenance strategy that will take off immediately after the construction of the road and it will run for a period of 25 years.”
In his remarks, Project Manager for Julius Berger, Mario Viduka, said, “The major challenge we had at first was the emergency repairs that would allow traffic to move freely. But we are making a headway because we have constructed additional lanes. We have 48 months to complete our work and we are certain that we will deliver as scheduled.
“We are using the improved bitumen like the one we tested in Germany at the beginning of this project. We are also using the polymer improved bitumen, which was tested on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway where the traffic is also huge and the result was positive.”