The construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway will be completed in December 2022 according to the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola. Speaking on Channels Television, the minister, however, said that this would be subjected to a lot of variables.
“For example, as we speak somewhere between Ojo, the Oyo State government is constructing a drainage facility. This has a result slowed down our work considerably in spite of the fact that the contractors are working day and night.
The need for the drainage facility cannot be dismissed. We have therefore initiated talks with Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State. The plan is to find a way to intervene with contractors to expedite work on the construction site,” explained Fashola
Furthermore, the minister noted that the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was not slow. The government, he said, has only not funded the projects sufficiently over the years. In conclusion, he urged citizens to “endure the pains, because the benefits of the infrastructures that the government is building are on the horizon.”
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway rehabilitation project overview
The Lagos–Ibadan Expressway is a 127.6-kilometre-long expressway connecting Ibadan and Lagos. Ibadan is the capital of Oyo, an inland state in southwestern Nigeria while Lagos is the country’s largest city. Besides being a major route to the northern, southern, and eastern parts of Nigeria, the expressway is also the oldest of its kind in the country. It was commissioned in August 1978 during the Military era, under the administration of Major-General Olusegun Obasanjo.
Moreover, the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway is one of the busiest inter-state routes in the West African country. It handles more than 250,000 PCUs daily and constitutes one of the largest road networks in the entire African continent. Furthermore, it is part of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) projects, concerned with road improvement and connectivity between the States of Nigeria.
The rehabilitation project of the expressway was flagged off in July 2013 by Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The aim was to help reduce the travel time of hundreds of thousands of commuters and international air passengers. The contract for the rehabilitation of the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway was awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria. Reynolds Construction Company Limited also won a piece of the contract the total cost of which was approximate US$ 839M.
The project was divided into two sections. The first section was the Lagos to Sagamu Interchange, while the second section was Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan.
Reported earlier
Feb 2015
Nigeria: Reconstruction of Lagos-Ibadan expressway progressing well
Mike Onolemenmen, the Minister of Works in Nigeria, has said that reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan road is going on well so far.
The minister said this after inspecting the reconstruction works, noting that about 30 kilometers have already been reconstructed, which was perfect for the project.
He said that this expressway reconstruction project may be even delivered before the estimated completion period, which is a 48 months schedule, due to the use of an improved financing mechanism for the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
Private finance initiative would see through the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan road by providing 70% of the funds needed, he said, adding that the federal government was responsible for the rehabilitation of 30% of the cost.
He also said that there are 25,000 kilometers of fair roads in the country, with 10,000 km outstanding.
He further explained that the country is undertaking 184 projects, hence demanding a portfolio size of about N 1.7 trillion, and there was a fair balance in sharing the projects among geo-political zones. He also confirmed President Goodluck Jonathan’s government’s commitment to delivering good projects. He said projects would continue despite a drop in oil prices.
The minister has said that the country would have a standard means to manage the road network like happens in developed countries, once the National Assembly enacts the federal government–approved Road Reform Bill.
He said the country was in plans to link the six geo-political zones with dual carriageways. “What we used to call the missing link road on our route A2 from Warri port to Benin City, is already dualized. The missing link is now from Benin-Lokojaand work is going on in this missing link and the dualization is in progress,” He said.
The country announced that it would undertake the reconstruction of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
April
Nigeria seeks to have the Lagos-Ibadan expressway project privatized
Nigeria’s federal Government has opened talks with Bi-Courtney Nigeria Limited to execute the privatization of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project. This follows legal twists and turns trailing the exercise.
The talks are geared toward finding a lasting solution to the imbroglio that is hampering the execution of the contract.
Talks between the Minister of Power, Works, and housing development Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and Dr. Wale Babalakin, the owner of Bi-Courtney Nigeria Limited are at an advanced stage to get an amicable solution so as to allow the completion of the ongoing construction.
The project has been at the center of two court cases in which an order has been granted to cancel a financing agreement to finance contracts for Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) in 2013 to a tune of N167 billion.
Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited had earlier in the year acquired a court order canceling a new concession agreement granted to Motorways Assets Limited to finance the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and manage the road. This has highly stalled the redevelopment of the highway.
The firm attributed the delay in executing the concession to the inability to get the Federal Ministry of Works approval for the project design. It would have completed the road project within the set time frame if it had received the support being granted to the new contractor as it spent $300 million on the maintenance of the road while it was under its care for three years.
The Federal Government had in 2009 entered into a 25-year concessionary agreement with Bi-Courtney under a Public Private Partnership scheme to upgrade the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and recover the money invested in the road through tolling. The government, however, terminated the agreement in November 2012 due to alleged non-performance by Bi-Courtney and in December of the same year, the government in an effort to ease traffic engaged some contractors to carry out some palliative work on the road.
The Ministry of Power, Works, and Housing Development has also started an internal review of the Federal Highways Act, aimed at making recommendations to the Ministry of Justice to consider and make a number of changes that will ensure a successful process of privatization. In the Act, it was discovered that the current review shows that: “The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission Act (ICRC) does not contain a “saving provision” with regard to other existing legislation. This means that the law is subject to other legislations that relate to concessions.
The law is silent on the commission’s role with regard to the approval process for PPP projects and the power to grant a concession. The act also does not give alternative modes of dispute resolution which is a more efficient platform for settling commercial disputes in contra-distinction from regular courts.
The expressway connects three South-Western states of Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo states, which starts at Ojota interchange pass through Shagamu junction, Ogere, and ends at Ojoo in the city of Ibadan; a distance of 127.6km. It is also a major artery that connects Lagos, which is host to Nigeria’s major sea ports, to other states of the federation, and not only forms a part of the Trans-Saharan Highway that links Lagos on the Atlantic Ocean to Algiers on the Mediterranean Sea, but also part of the Trans-African Highway connecting the Atlantic City of Lagos to Mombasa city on the coastline of the Indian Ocean in East Africa through Cameroon and Central Africa, as the Shagamu Interchange separates the two continental highways.
Fashola recently admitted and blamed the past government saying it did not act in good faith in canceling the contract. “The past government did not act in good faith, or even compromised or was even negligent. The answer is no cancellation if the contract is performing. The answer is renegotiation. I am not saying that government must not terminate non-performing contracts. Indeed these are rights that are standardly provided in all well-drawn contracts.
Nov 2016
Construction of Lagos-Ibadan expressway halfway complete
The construction of Nigeria’s Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is almost completed as currently, the contractor has worked on 32% of the projects.
According to Mr. Kayode Ibrahim, the engineer supervising section one of the project the rehabilitation will just end on time as the schedule given by the Federal Ministry of Power, Works, and Housing.
Speaking to a local news Agency Ibrahim said that one section of the long-awaited bridge has been completed and they are currently working on the second section that has various sections to be worked on.
NAN reports that section one of the projects is from Ojota in Lagos to Sagamu Interchange and is being handled by Julius Berger.
He said that more warning signs and crash barriers had been deployed to the highway to ensure the free flow of traffic and check accidents.
Also read: Nigeria seeks to have Lagos-Ibadan expressway project privatized
“We will ensure that the project is completed on time as we believe the second bridge construing will be completed by December 15th and we shall continue with the road construction which will take a short period” he added.
The engineer said that they are happy the 32% that is complete was crucial; part hence leaving them with less work to do as they look forward to completing the projects.
“We have constructed trapezoidal drains, rectangular drains, and retaining walls on various portions and also laid polymer modified asphalt on various shoulders. We are working massively on various portions,” he said.
NAN correspondent on inspection of the highway with the inspection team of the House of Representatives Committee on Works, reports that the highway is free from the usual traffic logjam as of press time.
NAN reports that tack coat (binding material for asphalt) was being laid on a portion of the outer lane of the popular Long bridge.
May 2018
Rehabilitation work on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in good progress
Rehabilitation work on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is in good progress and is almost hitting the 60% mark complete. This is according to the two construction companies handling the rehabilitation work on the Expressway.
Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) and Julius Berger revealed the project status during a nationwide tour visit on the nationwide federal government’s infrastructural projects. The tour was conducted by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The rehabilitation cost for the 132km long expressway road hits US $642.4m. However, the reconstruction of the expressway is divided into two sections in order to cut short the project completion duration.
Project sections
Julius Berger is working on section one of the project which is from Lagos to Sagamu. The 48 km project section is at 53% complete, entailing the laying of asphalt and construction of drainages. On the other hand, RCC is handling Section 2 from Sagamu to Ibadan which is now at 58.27% complete.
Also read: Construction of Lagos-Ibadan expressway halfway complete
Naor Narkisi of RCC revealed that the firm is extending two bridges at the 71 and 74km of the road section which is at Fidiwo and Four Square. The bridges will be completed by the end of this month.
Additional layers
Nonetheless, an additional layer of 15cm of top asphalt coating has been made on the road while the asphalt admixture is modified to prevent the road from corroding. Besides, the road is designed to be durable for 20 years from the effect of rotting.
Nov 2018
Nigeria’s Lagos-Ibadan road to be completed by 2021
Julius Berger, a construction company in Nigeria has given the Senate committee on work an assurance that the Lagos-Ibadan road will be completed by 2021.
The company that made the revelations during a meeting with Senator Kabiru Gaya-led Senate committee which also involved inspection of roads projects currently, pointed out that completion of the project, which was earlier slated for 2017 could not be materialized due to lack of funds and some expansions.
Construction sites visited by the senator and his members were the 1.5km NNPC Mosimi Access road said to be stalled by N1bn debt, the Apapa Wharf road which is under the construction of AG Dangote, and the Leventis bridge which are expected to be completed before the end of 2018 and the first quarters of 2019 respectively.
Also read: Construction of Lagos-Ibadan expressway halfway complete
Project delay
Senator Gaya however expressed disappointment with the delay trailing the project. He added that with the federal government’s increase in funds marked for road construction, there should not be any delay in the project.
“The project is good as it will take care of traffic but we are not happy with the speed and so we expect the contractor to increase the pace of work, even though there were amendments on the road,” said Senator Gaya.
The senator disclosed that the cost of road infrastructure has been increased by the federal government from US $1.3 to US $1.6m and the Apapa Wharf road project, currently 97% complete would be finished in December 2018.
Aug 2019
Julius Berger to resume work on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Nigeria
Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, the construction company handling rehabilitation work on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, is set to resume work on the project.
The Ogun Sector Commandant of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Mr. Clement Oladele, confirmed the reports and said that there will be a partial closure of a section of the expressway for rehabilitation. Mr. Oladele said the rehabilitation work would cover Berger’s end of the road to Ogun River Bridge at the popular Kara Cattle Market totaling 1.4 kilometers.
”The rehabilitation work will initially affect 600 meters of the corridor and cause the temporary closure of the inward Lagos traffic to enable the construction company carries out the rehabilitation work on the road,” he explained.
“The temporary diversion of traffic will transfer the Lagos inbound traffic to the same carriageway conveying traffic outward Lagos, thereby accommodating both the traffic inward and outward Lagos on the same section of the expressway,” Oladele added.
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Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
The sector commandant further advised the general public, especially motorists, to use alternative corridors like the Epe/Ajah – Ijebu – Ode, Lagos – Ota – Itori – Abeokuta, and Ikorodu – Sagamu roads.
Julius Berger is working on section one of the project which is from Lagos to Sagami. The 48 km project section is at 53% complete, entailing the laying of asphalt and construction of drainages. On the other hand, RCC is handling Section 2 from Sagamu to Ibadan which is now at 58.27% complete.
The firm is also extending two bridges at the 71 and 74km of the road section which is at Fidiwo and Four Square. The road is designed to be durable for 20 years from the effect of rotting.
Sep 2021
New flyover and interchange for construction on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
The federal government of Nigeria in collaboration with the Ogun State Government plans to construct three new flyovers and an interchange on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in a bid to decongest the 127.6-kilometer-long expressway connecting Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, and Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.
This was revealed by Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola during a recent inspection of the highway. Accompanied by Governor Dapo Abiodun at the Lotto Bridge, which is currently under construction, Minister Fashola said that the Expressway accommodates over 40,000 vehicles daily, hence the urgent need for additional flyovers and interchanges for decongestion.
Sites earmarked for the construction of the flyovers and the interchanges
Reportedly, the three bridges will be built at Makun, MFM, and Lotto (Mowe) areas on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Regarding the interchange, both governments are reportedly in the process of securing a Right of Way (RoW) for the construction works to begin.
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“We are trying to execute an interchange that will separate the main carriageway and give commuters choice, especially those going to religious places to worship, those going to universities, and so on and so forth. What is causing the congestion now in the future will be limited to the barest minimum if not totally eradicated when the road works are finished,” explained the federal Minister of Works and Housing adding, “But to achieve this objective we require additional land to build the interchange, and that is precisely why I called the governor (Dapo Abiodun).”
Governor Abiodun assured that the state government would give all the land and support needed for the implementation of the said project.
Ongoing rehabilitation works of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
Mr. Fashola also expressed satisfaction with the progress of work on the ongoing reconstruction/rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
He said that section one of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project, which spans from Ojota in Lagos to Sagamu Interchange “has achieved 56 percent completion” while the second section, which spans from the Sagamu Interchange to Ojoo in Ibadan, is 63 percent complete.
