The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Lagos/Ibadan expressway

  • Fashola should complete Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, says Fasanmi

    Fashola should complete Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, says Fasanmi

    SECOND Republic Senator Ayo Fasanmi yesterday asked the Minister of Power, Works & Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) to ensure the completion of the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway rehabilitation.

    Describing the road as the busiest in the country, the octogenarian said the 126.5-kilometre road is critical to national economic interest.

    Fasanmi, an All Progressives Congress (APC) elder, hailed President Buhari for assigning ministers from the Southwest to challenging portfolios, assuring that they will deliver.

    The elder statesman, who spoke with our correspondent on phone, said Fashola, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the Minister of Solid Minerals, and his Heath, Communications and Finance counterparts; Prof. Isaac Adewole, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu and Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, will live up to expectation as change agents.

    Urging Fashola to fight the infrastructure battle nationwide, he said his antecedent as former governor of Lagos State motivated the President to give him the arduous tasks.

    He said: “Lagos/Ibadan Expressway is a challenge for Buhari and his team. The Minister of Works is up to the task. In fact, our ministers from the Southwest – Fayemi, Shittu, Adewole, Adeosun and Daramola, are great assets. The region has confidence in their ability. They have performed in positions of responsibilities before as governors, administrators and politicians.

    “For example, Fahsola is a man after my heart; hardworking, unassuming. He deserves the portfolios, having raised the level of governance in Lagos to a high pedestal. These ministers will actually change, perform and excel.”

    Fasanmi urged Nigerians to support the administration in its drive for change.

  • Photo: Accident on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway

    Photo: Accident on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway

  • BPP blames Ministry for delay on Lagos/Ibadan expressway

    BPP blames Ministry for delay on Lagos/Ibadan expressway

    The Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) has absolved itself from any blames in the delay on the commencement of construction work on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

    BPP’s Director-General, Emeka Ezeh, said the delay in the take-off of the project lies solely with the Federal Ministry of Works.

    Ezeh was represented by Ayo Aderibigbe, Director of Compliance, Certification and Monitoring, at the opening ceremony of the second phase of a two-week procurement training course for senior procurement officers of Directors level. He denied insinuations that the Bureau was delaying the project implementation and execution of the Lagos/Ibadan expressway.

    Noting that the ministry drives the process, he said when they are through, they will send it to the Bureau for Due Process Certification, which will forward it to the Federal Executive Council. For now the procurement process is still with the ministry, he stated.

    He said: “The BPP is not delaying the process. Certification comes to us for works that are N1billion and above; for goods, N100 million and above; for consultancy services, N100million and above.”

    However, “for all those below that threshold, he said they are being carried out by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs),”.Therefore for contractors to say we are stalling project implementation is not true. For the Lagos Ibadan/ Expressway, BPP is not the procuring entity; we are only regulating the procurement process,” Ezeh, explained.

    He said the time line for the execution of the project would depend on the Federal Ministry of Works. “When they finish, they will forward it to us to issue a Certificate of No Objection, and then we will forward it to the Federal Executive Council for approval,” he said.

    Ezeh said BPP has been able to save N450billion since its inception, and N22billion last year, adding that these savings have been directed to other needs of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and were not kept by the BPP.

    He said the Bureau saved about N450 million in 2007, explaining that this year’s collated savings has not been made because of budget complications.