Southwest Governors to Reconstruct Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

Southwest Governors to Reconstruct Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
February 3, 2012

The plan by Bi-Courtney highway services to reconstruct the Lagos-Ibadan expressway appears to have run into more troubled waters, as the governors of the Southwest and Edo states have agreed to take over the reconstruction of the road.

At a meeting at the government house, Abeokuta, Ogun state, Southwest Nigeria yesterday, the governors agreed to pull resources together to reconstruct the road, as well as the Shagamu-Benin expressway, in addition to the plan to construct a rail line traversing Lagos through Asaba, the Delta state capital.

Governors Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) of Lagos State; Fayemi of Ekiti State, Rauf Aregbesola of OsunState; Senator Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State and the Host Ibikunle Amosun were on sit.

Others were the Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Alli Olanusi, and his Edo State counterpart, Mr. Pius Odubu.

According to the Ekiti state governor, Kayode Fayemi who read the communiqué at the end of the meeting, the governors also demanded an immediate review of the existing concession agreement on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, adding that the position of the road as the artery linking Lagos to other parts of the country made the review imperative.

Apart from the gridlock caused by the state of the expressway, they also said there were the issues of job losses, insecurity, and economic wastage which has created an impact on the socio-economic development of the nation in general.

The reconstruction of the road has been mired in controversy since Bi-Courtney emerged as the concessionaire. After a long delay occasioned by disagreement over the project’s design and several months of carrying out palliative work on the road, the company recently started the actual reconstruction project.

However, the company’s plan to build an asphalt plant in a parcel of land belonging to the Ogun state government is still in dispute.

Meanwhile, effort to get the response of Bi-Courtney has not been successful.

Source: Channels TV