Thursday 12 May 2016

How N16billion mass transit SURE-P fund was squandered

Photo: theheraldng.com
Over N16 billion of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) funds released by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2012 for the Public Mass Transit Revolving Fund (PMTF) was squandered, the International Centre for Investigative Reporting icirnigeria.org has found.
The fund, administered as a revolving loan by The Infrastructure Bank (TIB) was given out in form of mass transit vehicles to 31 beneficiaries, mostly commercial transport operators. A total of 1,179 vehicles were released to the beneficiaries under the scheme, with a repayment plan covering four years.
But four years after the vehicles were disbursed, only two of the beneficiaries-ABC Transport PLC and Young Shall Grow Transport Limited, have fully repaid their loans. Most of the other beneficiaries are yet to pay back as stipulated in the contractual agreements signed between them and the TIB.
The bank lists as “chronic defaulters 15 companies and organizations, owing a total of N4,586,088,671.63 as at December 2015. That figure would have gone up as at the time of filing this report.
The loan defaulters include National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), which got N2.3 billion; Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), N403,487,239; Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), N370,738,460; Greenline Bus, N370,500,000; Global Ginikana, N295,290,190 and Classic Link Express, N123,500,000.
Those familiar with the disbursement say the Jonathan administration gave out the loans largely as political patronage, with many of the recipient believing that they were actually helping the government out of the ditch it ran into after the fuel subsidy protests of January 2012.
Investigations by the icirnigeria.org revealed that the scheme was compromised by stakeholders, including the beneficiaries, TIB and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
Most of the beneficiaries who defaulted in loan repayment cited supply of poor quality vehicles by TIB as major reason for their inability to pay back. While the beneficiaries requested Toyota, Mercedes and Ashley Leyland high capacity buses, they were supplied Hyundai and IVM Innoson vehicles, which they said is unsuitable for commercial use.
Unlike Mercedez, Leyland and Toyota vehicles, the loan defaulters claim spare parts for Hyundai and Innoson vehicles are also not easily available in the country, a situation that forced many of the beneficiaries to park the vehicles less than a year after delivery.
Najim Yasin, National President of NURTW, said the organization rejected the vehicles provided by TIB but was persuaded to take them as a show of support to the Jonathan administration which was then facing a debilitating country-wide workers strike over the cut in fuel subsidy.
Mr. Yasin said of the 234 mass transit buses given to the NURTW, less than 65 were Toyota vehicles, the others were Hyundai and Innoson buses that broke down within the first month of operation.
Communications between the NURTW and TIB, seen by this website, show that the organization complained about the poor quality of the vehicles and the fact that there were no spare parts to fix those that broke down.
Mr. Yasin said the complaints were ignored by TIB.
In a letter dated May 22, 2012, the NURTW wrote to TIB to reject all the Hyundai and Innoson buses given to it by the bank, claiming that they were not good for transportation business.
Also, in a reply to a letter from the TIB for settlement of the N4.7 billion loan given to NURTW dated July1, 2015, the NURTW wrote: “We reiterate the fact that our good intentions to defray the loan have been hampered and challenged by the fact that these vehicles are mostly grounded due to their inferior and sub-standard qualities. Others are accidented, and despite the fact that we have sent several claims for insurance cover/payment on the buses, these claims have not been paid by the consortium of insurance companies solely appointed by you.”
TREAN, another beneficiary, said it requested TIB to supply it 100 Toyota and Ashley Leyland buses but was given only 10 Toyota buses and 32 Hyundai and Innoson buses, all at the cost of N370.7 million.
The National President of the association, Musa Shehu, told the icirnigeria.org that most of the Hyundai and Innoson buses broke down within the first month because of the rigour of travelling on bad roads, while the others could not last a year, thereby making it impossible to repay the loan.
Mr. Shehu gave our reporter copies of the letters his association wrote TIB to supply them the remaining 58 vehicles and make sure they were Toyota or Ashley Leyland buses so that they could off-set the loan on the bad vehicles with money from the good ones. He said although TIB promised to give them the vehicles the bank never kept the promise.
On May 24, 2012, RTEAN wrote to TIB, complaining that some of the buses were “faulty and draining our pocket.” The association said many of the vehicles they got developed faults within days or weeks after they were delivered.
“Most of the vehicles giving us severe problem are Innoson and Hyundai models,” it said in the letter, asking that the buses be replaced.
In another letter dated July 19, 2012, the association complained that it could not continue to meets its repayment obligation under the agreement as some of the buses given to its members were breaking down daily.
“These buses can hardly be used for 3 days without developing some sort of fault or the other. There is no week that passes by without these buses going to a mechanic’s workshop,” the association wrote.
“We hereby appeal that these Innoson buses should be retracted by you and in exchange, release to us Hummer buses in order for us to effectively run our commercial businesses…”
Both NURTW and RTEAN said those who got the Toyota buses, who are few, met their contractual obligations because the buses are still on the road. “But those who got Hyundai and Innoson cannot pay back because the vehicles have been parked due to lack of spare parts.  While the former has paid only N350 million till date, the later has paid back less than N30 million,” Mr. Shehu stated.
But our investigations also show that the transporters were also wont to complain about just any vehicle given to then, even Toyota buses. For instance, in a letter written to TIB by RTEAN in September, 2012, the association also complained about a Toyota Coaster bus which it said developed faults three months after
It was supplied. “This particular vehicle (a Toyota Coaster bus), which has not been on the road for more than three months, has been associated with all sorts of problems which include perpetual break down, faulty internal parts of the vehicle and high cost of maintenance.”
Documents in possession of the website indicate that the BPP in January 2012 issued a Certificate of No Objection to TIB’s request to engage nine vehicle providers under the scheme.
The vehicle providers include Globe Motors and IVM Innoson, among others. The document also showed that the selection of vehicle providers was based on their ability to deliver high capacity buses within a very short time, and not to provide vehicles with high durability.
The TIB and the BPP were more concerned with helping government to provide transport palliative to cushion effect of fuel subsidy removal at the time, and not making the loan scheme efficient.
There are also allegations that TIB received and supplied sub-standard vehicles because officials of the bank received gratifications from the vehicle providers. We are unable to independently verify that claim, and is unable to accuse anyone of receiving gratifications at this time.
Some of the beneficiaries told our reporter that TIB never discussed with them the brand of vehicles they would be given, but only specified that they would be high capacity buses. Moreover, they alleged, TIB ignored their request for vehicles of their choice and instead decided on its own to impose the vehicles on them.
Besides, our investigations show that the government-owned bank has continued to give out loans in form of mass transit buses to companies without appearing to have learnt from its experience managing the SURE-P revolving loans scheme.
Investigations show that in 2015, TIB gave vehicles for mass transit purposes to companies that either never operated in the transport business or lacked capacity to successfully manage a mass transit operation. In some cases, it appeared, some of the companies were registered or their initial business focus changed to be able to take the car loans.
For example, Global Leasing Limited, a company incorporated in 1997 to “carry on the business of equipment leasing, hiring, renting or otherwise dealing in tractors, machines and other heavy duty equipment, machinery and vehicles normally used in dredging, loading, carting in the oil industry” got two loans totaling over N2 billion. It got the first loan of N1,058,300,000 or 60 buses (one billion, fifty eight million, three hundred thousand naira) on January 20, 2015 and a second one of N1,005,337,500 or 60 buses (one billion, five million, three hundred and thirty seven thousand five hundred naira on December 24, 2015.
It is one of only few companies to have received loans twice and the private firm with the second largest loan portfolio but checks at the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, shows that it was not incorporated to do and had never been involved in mass transit business. Besides, the company that got a loan of over two billion had a share capital of only N2 million. However, the company is not known to have defaulted on its loans.
Intermission Global Investment Limited, the company that got the biggest loan of N2,999,053,575 or 206 buses from TIB in March, 2015 was incorporated in 2009 to undertake strictly construction business. With a share capital of N1 million, the company’s ownership changed in June 2014, the same day that its focus of business shifted from construction business to mass transportation.
Also questionable is the loan given to Safetrip Limited, a company incorporated in 2009 to carry on all kinds of businesses in the transportation sector. The company actually got two loans; the first one of N227,620,000in January, 2012. A year after, the loan had to be restructured as the company was falling back badly on repayments. Safetrip commenced repayment of the restructured loan in March 2013 and as at March 2016 it had repaid only N32,575,295, according to bank documents obtained by the icirnigeria.org, thus entering the bad books of chronic defaulters. However, in spite of its terrible experience with the company, TIB went ahead to grant another loan of N185,250,000 to Safetrip in April 2014. Not surprisingly, the company has paid back only N6.3 million of the loan as at March 2016.
Efforts to get TIB’s reaction to this story were fruitless as the bank refused to provide information on the loans or respond to the allegations against it and its officials.
The bank denied the request for information by the icirnigeria.org written to it since March 17.  In the letter addressed to the bank’s Managing Director, the icirnigeria.org asked for details of the Federal Executive Councilapproval for the scheme, a copy of the Funds Management Agreement signed between the bank and the federal government, documentation on beneficiaries of the scheme, including number, type and total value of vehicles obtained, documentation on all vehicle suppliers including the number, type, cost and date of delivery of the  vehiclesand a copy of the Standard Bidding Documents issued to all bidders to supply the vehicles.
We also requested the final signed contract award documents, documentation on total money spent on loan revolving scheme, documentation on total loans redeemed and total outstanding and documentation on beneficiaries who have defaulted, including how much is outstanding on each name.
In a reply to the letter dated March 24 signed by Abiodun Daria and Ezinwanyi Ken-Ahia, of the Corporate Legal Department, the bank asked for time to provide the information requested.
“We have noted your request as contained in the letter and we are presently in the process of attending to it. We shall respond to you after the Easter holidays.”
However, when our reporter called Ms Ken-Ahia about two weeks later, she said the bank was waiting for approval from the ministry of finance before replying and providing the information. Asked if the information was domiciled with the ministry, she said it was not but added that since it was the supervisory ministry, the bank had to obtain permission before replying to the request.
But, as at press time, TIB has not provided the information, in flagrant disobedience of the FOI Act.
When our reporter visited the bank’s headquarter offices in the Central Business District in Abuja on Monday, the Administrative Manager, Hamisu Umar, who attended to him said that he could not respond to the questions put to him because they were management issues and advised the reporter to write officially to the bank’s management.
When he was told that an FOI Act request for information had been submitted to the bank for over two months but ignored, Mr. Umar said that a reminder should be written and sent to the bank.
It was gathered that the  matter is now being investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), and that many of the key players had been interrogated. No one has, however, been charged to court.
But some of the beneficiaries, including the NURTW and RTEAN, have taken TIB to court for insisting that they repay the loan given to them. They are claiming that the loan was impossible to repay because TIB deliberately supplied them poor quality vehicles and ignored their complaints that the vehicles were not performing.
SOURCE: Premiumtimesng

Friday 6 May 2016

N165 billion monthly salaries of federal civil servants not sustainable – Adeosun

FILE PHOTO: Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said on Thursday in Lagos that the N165 billion monthly salaries to federal civil servants was over-bloated and could no longer be sustained by government.
The minister spoke at a meeting with Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) hosted by her counterpart in the Ministry of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.
Adeosun, who was speaking on the economy reform agenda of the government, said that the N165 billion being paid to federal civil servants monthly represented 40 per cent of the total spending of government.
She said the figure was too high and the government was pursuing aggressive measures to detect and prosecute ghost workers and other saboteurs in the system.
“We spend 165 billion every month on salaries and when I came in there was no checking.
“Now, we have created a unit assigned with the sole responsibility of checking the salaries and catching those behind the over bloated salaries,’’ she said.
Adeosun said that the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) introduced by the previous administration was faulty and sabotaged by the element benefitting from the salary fraud.
She said that many Federal Government establishments including the Police were yet to be captured in the system.
According to her, it is shocking that the Nigerian Railway Corporation which was not fully functioning still had 10,000 workers in its payroll serviced by government.
The minister assured that government would correct the anomalies in the payroll system and weed out all ghost workers in the service.
Adeosun said that the fiscal focus of the administration was to ensure an economic growth that would be measured on job creation and productive sectors.
“The economy is not measured by how many private jet we have but how many jobs we create.
“People must be productive for the economy to grow.
“We have been a consumer economy, but we want to be productive and stop buying everything from abroad.
“We have been borrowing to pay salaries for years and that has to stop because it is not sustainable.
“Last year, we spent N64 billion on travelling and only N90 billion on roads. Travelling does not grow the economy and this must also stop,’’ she said.
The minister said that the compound GDP of the country had been growing negatively in the last 10 years and the administration was working to correct the trend.
She assured that the administration would be the most discipline government the country has ever had in terms of fiscal accountability and responsibility.
Also speaking at the meeting, the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, said government would reposition the agricultural sector to become the mainstay of the economy.
“The ministry will give policy direction and coordination to make farming attractive and for people to practice it as business.
SOURCE: Premiumtimes

Prices of fresh tomatoes up by 1,000%

Prices of fresh tomatoes up by 1,000% in Jos, environs
The prices of tomatoes have gone up by 1,000 per cent in Josand environs in Plateau, a market survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has shown.
Our correspondents, who visited some of the markets and other selling points on Thursday, found out that the commodity had gone beyond the reach of the average Nigerian.
At the Terminus Market in Jos, a small basket of the commodity, which used to be N350, was selling for N3,500.
NAN also found that a big basket of the commodity, which sold for N1,000 about two months ago, now costs N10,000.
The story was the same at the Tudun Wada Market in Jos North Local Government, where a medium basket of the commodity, which sold for N550 in March, was sold for N5,600.
NAN reports that prospective small buyers seeking N150 worth of the commodity, were turned back by the retailers, who said that they did not have any quantity for that little amount.
Speaking to NAN, one of the retailers of the commodity, Mrs. Nanret Abimu, said, "Honestly, I do not know one specific reason why the price is this high’’.
"The price changes every day. One day a basket is N5,000. The next day, you are told it is N10,000. It is a very tough situation,’’ she told NAN.
Investigation by NAN showed that the price increase was caused by seasonal changes, especially at the onset of the rains.
"Tomato is generally a dry season vegetable.
"When heavy rains start, the vegetable gets rotten on the farms, which generally affects supply.
"It means that many retailers or wholesalers could go directly to the farms but will not get much and may be forced to purchase at outrageous prices out of desperation.
"When that happens, the effect is on the buyer and the eventual consumer, which is what we have now,'' she said.
Some consumers, who spoke with NAN on the situation, said that they had left out stew "for now'', in their daily menu.
A housewife, Mrs Nenkwat Joseph, said that she had tried to improvise by using pepper to spice up some dishes.
Another consumer, Miss Mishrap Aro, told NAN that she envisaged the rise in the price and prepared for it by buying in large quantities when the price was good.
"I bought tomatoes a long time; I cut each piece into two, dried it up and fetch it for use now anytime I need it.
"Normally, I soaked the dried tomatoes inside water and grind it; once that is done, it comes back as fresh tomatoes,'' she told NAN.
Also speaking to NAN, a student, Micheal Ali said that he had resorted to tin or sachet tomato instead of the fresh variant.

SOURCE: pulseng

I Want To Go Back To Sambisa - Rescued Girl

A Twelve-year-old girl rescued by the military has said she wants to return to her husband in Sambisa Forest. The girl was one of the 65 civilians rescued from the forest earlier this week.

Theater commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Lucky Irahbor, handed over 65 civilians recently rescued to the Borno State government on Friday for further rehabilitation, but one teen demanded that she return to Sambisa Forest to be reunited with her husband.
Speaking to the Borno State government, Mr. Irahbor, who enumerated the recent success of Operation Lafiya Dole, said, “Today I would like to hand over our sisters and children rescued during our operations at Sambisa Forest. We shall continue until we wipe out the insurgents because they are losing more ground in Sambisa Forest to our troops.”
Governor Kashim Shettima praised the military for their efforts and promised that his administration would continue to support the military.
"We are experiencing peace now because of the tireless efforts of our military, especially the crackdown on Sambisa Forest. For the newly rescued, I congratulate you all. We are going to take care of you and reunite you with your families.”
But the rescued twelve-year-old wept and refused to eat or drink water for the past three days, as she demanded to be reunited with her husband in Sambisa Forest.
When journalists asked the teen why she refused to eat or drink, she simply answered, "All I want is to go back to him at Sambisa again," and wept.
SOURCE:saharareporters

Tuesday 3 May 2016

Synagogue building collapse: Court grants engineers N20​ ​m​illion​ bail​​

The two engineers who constructed the collapsed seven-storey guest house of the Synagogue Church of All Nations — Akinbela Fatiregun and Oladele Ogundeji — were on Tuesday in Lagos granted N20 million bail.
An Ikeja High Court gave the ruling at the hearing of the bail application for the engineers.
Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo said:”The bail application hereby succeeds and here are the bail conditions.
Synagogue T.B Joshua
“The defendants are hereby granted N10million bail each with two sureties in like sum.’’
The engineers have since April 19 been remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Prisons after they had entered a plea of
​”​not guilty​”​ to a 111-count charge bordering on gross negligence and criminal manslaughter.
The Sept. 12, 2014 building collapse left 116 persons, 85 of whom were South Africans, dead.
The Coroner’s Inquest instituted by the Lagos State Government had in its verdict on July 8, 2015 said the building collapse was “caused by structural failure due to a combination of designs and detailing errors’’.
The coroner ordered that Synagogue church should be investigated and proceeded against by the relevant authorities for not possessing necessary building permits, while the two engineers involved in the construction of the building should be tried for criminal negligence.
The judge said the defendants should present a surety who should be a civil servant with a minimum of Grade Level 14 and whose employment shall be verified by the State Head of Service.
“The second surety shall be a house owner with property located in Lagos and also provide utility bills and evidence of tax payment.
“The defendants must deposit their international passports with the Chief Registrar of the High Court of Lagos and the defendants shall be verified by the Chief Registrar.’’
The case was adjourned to May 19, May 20 and June 1, June 2 and June 3 for hearing. (NAN)
SOURCE: Premiumtimesng

Outrage as herdsmen kill monarch, nephew in Kaduna

Suspected Fulani herdsmen have allegedly unleashed violence on the residents of Southern Kaduna, killing the traditional ruler of the Fadan Karshi district in Sanga Local Council, Bala Madaki and his nephew, Emmanuel Tanko, in a night attack.
The state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has condemned the killings and appealed for calm . Residents of the Fadan Karshi community who accused the Fulani herdsmen of perpetrating the heinous crime, said the group had launched attacks on them since the 2011election crises, killing about 1,500 people in the southern part of the state.
The Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday condemned the killing of a traditional ruler in Fadan Karshi, Sanga local government area of the state.
SUSPECTED Fulani herdsmen have allegedly unleashed violence on the residents of Southern Kaduna, killing the traditional ruler of the Fadan Karshi district in Sanga Local Council, Bala Madaki and his nephew, Emmanuel Tanko, in a night attack.
The state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has condemned the killings and appealed for calm . Residents of the Fadan Karshi community who accused the Fulani herdsmen of perpetrating the heinous crime, said the group had launched attacks on them since the 2011election crises, killing about 1,500 people in the southern part of the state.
“Prior to the latest attack, the district head had applied an insecticide in his room and was sleeping outside his big compound when the Fulani unleashed the attack.
“We heard a gunshot and everyone woke up and ran into their various rooms around 10:00 p.m. on Sunday. The gunmen followed the district head right inside his room and killed him,” a resident told journalists.
A traditional title holder in the area who pleaded anonymity said that another person that was killed ‘‘was a close relation of the district head. We don’t know what is happening. We hardly sleep here with our eyes closed since 2013 when gunmen invaded our communities. These gunmen speak Fulani. Many people are being killed frequently, including women, youth, children and traditional rulers.
Something must be done urgently.”
According to another community leader from the area, the violence took place around 10:30p.m. last Sunday night.
His words: “It was very hot inside and people were sleeping outside. Around 10:00 p.m., the chief moved into his house with his family. Then some gunmen, who our people said were Fulani, stormed his compound and started shooting. They went into his room and shot him pointblank. They also shot a small boy, Emmanuel Tanko, who was writing his final year secondary school exams. The boy was a nephew of the late chief.
“Right now, Fadan Karshi is deserted. Shops and service centres are shut. People are either staying in-doors or are leaving the town. No one knows what is coming next. Police are patrolling the streets, but I am not sure if they have any clue about the murderers.
“I want you to recall that this was the district head that received former governor, Mukhtar Yero, on September 22, 2014 when our women protested half- naked because of the scale of killings by the Fulani going on at that time.
“Today, the type of killings going on is murdering of isolated people. Cattle are also grazing freely on people’s farms in these areas of Sanga and people are afraid to do anything about it. Now, they are targeting people and eliminating them. What people are saying about the killings of our district head is that he might have been killed by the Fulani who have a grudge with this community and the ruler.”
According to the source, “in May 2014, some Fulani armed men invaded the police station here and seven people were killed. As they were escaping, two were killed in an exchange of gunfire between them and the police.
“The Fulani Association later petitioned the then National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and copied the then governor. They said that our late district head should be arrested, dethroned and prosecuted for the death of the two Fulani. We still have a copy of the petition. We suspect that his death may be connected to that incident.”
The Kaduna State Police Command spokesman, Zubairu Abubakar, in his reaction, said that he was aware of the incident, but that he was waiting for the divisional police officer from Karshi to furnish him with details.
While commiserating with the family of the victims, El-Rufai urged the people of Sanga Local Council to be calm and support the security agencies to investigate the attack and apprehend the perpetrators.
In a statement, his media aide, Malam Samuel Aruwan, said the governor spoke at a meeting with the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the eight local councils of Kaduna South Senatorial District. He said the security agencies were investigating the attack, and were working to apprehend the culprits.
The governor assured the party leaders of his commitment to peace and security in every part of the state.
“It is a sad development. But we will not relent in our duty of protecting our people. We shall continue to strengthen the security agencies to do a better job, as well as encourage harmonious coexistence across our communities.
“The gains made in recent months to eliminate violent communal clashes in the area must be upheld. We must all be vigilant and do our best to maintain the peace in our communities,” the governor said.
“We heard a gunshot and everyone woke up and ran into their various rooms around 10:00 p.m. on Sunday. The gunmen followed the district head right inside his room and killed him,” a resident told journalists.
A traditional title holder in the area who pleaded anonymity said that another person that was killed ‘‘was a close relation of the district head. We don’t know what is happening. We hardly sleep here with our eyes closed since 2013 when gunmen invaded our communities. These gunmen speak Fulani. Many people are being killed frequently, including women, youth, children and traditional rulers.
Something must be done urgently.”
SOURCE:  guardianng

Tuesday 26 April 2016

800 HOUSES TO GO FOR LAGOS FOURTH MAINLAND BRIDGE

The Lagos State Government disclosed that 2,200 houses will be saved from demolition with the new alignment designed for the construction of the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge.
Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ganiyu Johnson said, the old alignment for the bridge was to claim over 3,000 houses which would mean huge economic losses to the economy.
He said with the new design, about 800 houses will now be affected, adding that the affected owners would be compensated by the government.

He explained that the when constructed would drastically reduce traffic volume on Eko, Cater and Third Mainland Bridges.
According to him, “The proposed bridge will traverse from Ajah to North West direction towards the lagoon shoreline to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway via Ikorodu. The approximate length of the road/bridge is 37.9km with a design speed of 140km/h.
“Lagos State Government has held discussions with a consortium of consultants in furtherance of the project,” said the commissioner.

He further explained that the significance and value of the project, saying “this lies in its capacity to rapidly decongest the traffic gridlock within the Lekki corridor and redistribute traffic towards Lagos Mainland which serves to meet increased future road infrastructure demands.”

He attributed the delay on the ongoing work at Badagry express way to paucity of funds, adding that Julius Berger, the construction firm handling the Lot I between Eric Moore to Mile 2, will finish the median lanes and hand over by August this year while CCECC to which the Lot II as awarded will continue construction in phases towards Agbara.

He added that the state government initiated a study to upgrade the network of roads in Ikeja to improve and boost the economic stature of the seat of government to word-class standard commensurate with other capital cities and also to reduce to the barest minimum, traffic gridlock along the corridor.

“This will involve the expansion of Awolowo Way with an elevated highway from the Airport Hotel to Alausa to decongest the traffic gridlock along Allen Round-about, Kudirat Abiola Round-about and Agidingbi Round-about. There will also be an expansion of the Allen/Opebi Road to Odo Iya-Alaro via a link bridge at Ogudu to the 3rd Mainland Bridge.
These networks of roads when upgraded will boost the economic activities in Ikeja being the seat of government,” the commissioner said.

SOURCE: copied