FG assures Badagry Expressway reconstruction to be completed 80% by year-end

The federal government has assured that reconstruction work on the Badagry Expressway will achieve 80 percent completion before the end of 2022 as funding from the N15 billion tax credit given by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) continues to be released.

Adedamola Kuti, director of Federal Highway, South West Zone, who gave this assurance during an inspection tour of the expressway which starts from Agbara to Badagry, revealed that the tax credit has facilitated progress of work on the 46-kilometre expressway that links Nigeria to Benin Republic.

“NNPC funding for this job is just about N15 billion but we have been assured that the government will not stop funding. That is why you are seeing tremendous progress of work on this road,” Kuti said.

According to him, the N15 billion has been a major boost to the ongoing project as it has contributed to the payment of some outstanding bills for works that have been done.

However, Kuti recalled that the ongoing project which has taken a new shape since the last few months, was awarded in 2018 but couldn’t go far due to funding.

He noted that the 46km expressway, starting from Agbara to Badagry, has utilized more than 300 trucks of cement, 131 trucks of diesel and over 30,000 trucks of aggregate and has created jobs for about 500 workers, thereby making a positive impact on the masses.

Kuti noted further that the project is 24 percent completed as at the time of the inspection, while assuring residents and journalists that the project is expected to be 80 percent complete before the end of the year, as funding continues.

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Babatunde Hunpe, Lawmaker Representing Badagry Federal Constituency, commended the ongoing project, noting that there is a tremendous change in the project compared to how it was 6 months ago.

“Before now you cannot see this road as an international road. It was a shameful thing to Nigerians, because we share boundaries here with other West African countries. If you cross to the other side, you will see what their road looks like but if you come here, you will see that it is a very shameful thing but today we can beat our chest as Nigerians and tell others that we are getting there now,” Hunpe said.

He stated that if the project continues as planned, the road will be at par with other boundaries from the Republic of Benin, Kenya, Togo and others.

He urged residents to comply with the construction process, as it has also been a source of employment to them, while urging the Federal Government to continue with the good work to see the completion of the road project.

Kuti noted that the project which covers from Agbara to Seme Border being supervised by the Federal Ministry of Works was part of the projects being executed via a strategic intervention under the Federal Government Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme.