Federal Government grants Ogun state power to reconstruct and put toll gate on Lagos-Abeokuta expressway

The Federal Government has granted approval to the Ogun State Government to fix and toll the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

This was made known by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Monday, October 16, 2023, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

For several years, motorists and commuters have lamented the deplorable state of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway which has remained a death trap despite repeated appeals to the government to fix the road.

Project done under HDMI

Umahi during the chat explained that the project would be carried out under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI), adding that the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and the Federal Ministry of Finance would be involved in the process.

The minister said, “On permission to build federal roads, when such requests are made, we give approval within 24 hours but then there are conditions to be met – they must have to use the Federal Ministry of Works standard designs.

“Under HDMI, when they (state governments) finish the roads, they have to toll it. There is a maximum number of years they have to toll it, recoup their money and then the funds will have to start coming into the Federation Account and that is why we are very much interested in how much the road is going to cost and to adopt the standard procedure in road construction and design. This is very important.

“An example of this system — HDMI – was the approval of Lagos-Otta-Abeokuta today (Monday) for Ogun State Government to build and toll.”

What you should know

The Lagos–Abeokuta Expressway is an 81-kilometre-long expressway connecting Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, and Ikeja, the capital of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.

The Lagos – Abeokuta expressway is one of Nigeria’s busiest highways, linking people living in metropolitan and greater Lagos, as well as people from outside the state.

This expressway is reported to be the busiest inter-state and intra-city route in Nigeria handles more than 250,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) daily and constitutes one of the largest road networks in Africa.

Umahi had earlier in August during a courtesy visit to Governor Dapo Abiodun in Abeokuta, hinted of a joint rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta expressway by the Federal Government and Ogun State government.

The minister, while responding to Governor Abiodun on the frustration experienced by Ogun and Lagos States during the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to get the road done, disclosed that the period of bureaucracy in road construction in the country was over.