Still on the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), managed by Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund @nsia_nigeria. One of the roads being funded is the 120km highway linking Lagos and Ibadan. The $308m Abacha Loot being repatriated is going into PIDF.
Project Update:
Project Update:
There’s a couple of points to note about this road. Easily one is the busiest in the country, considering that it’s the primary Route out of Lagos to rest of Nigeria.
The reconstruction has been split into 2 sections: Lagos-Sagamu (43km) by JB and Sagamu-Ibadan (~80km) by RCC.
The reconstruction has been split into 2 sections: Lagos-Sagamu (43km) by JB and Sagamu-Ibadan (~80km) by RCC.
Video above is for the Lagos-Sagamu section. Work scope includes the following:
There are legitimate questions being asked about how it has taken Nigeria well over a decade to complete 120km of critical highway.
I’ll attempt an answer here:
There are legitimate questions being asked about how it has taken Nigeria well over a decade to complete 120km of critical highway.
I’ll attempt an answer here:
This particular story starts in 2009, when the Yar’Adua Government signed a 90 billion Naira 25-year concession Agreement on the Lagos-Ibadan Highway with Bi-Courtney Limited. Bi-Courtney was supposed to reconstruct it and then recoup its money from Tolling. Sounds simple yeah?
August 2009, a pumped-up Bi-Courtney moves to site. Work starts. Everyone is excited.
But, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is Nigeria.
Somehow, not much followed, reportedly.
President Yar’Adua died (God rest his soul), GEJ took over, won election in 2011.
In Nov 2012, a frustrated FG revoked the Bi-Courtney contract.
Three years done waka, innit?
Somehow, not much followed, reportedly.
President Yar’Adua died (God rest his soul), GEJ took over, won election in 2011.
In Nov 2012, a frustrated FG revoked the Bi-Courtney contract.
Three years done waka, innit?
In 2013, the Federal Government re-awarded the road to JB & RCC - JB for Lagos-Sagamu and RCC for Sagamu-Ibadan. Contract signed September 2013, 48-month construction period. (This was 7 years ago)
Sorted, you’d think.
Sorted, you’d think.
But not that easy, people. Not so fast.
The FG was going to be paying for that construction project from out of the Federal Budget. Now anyone that knows how the budget works knows the challenges: money comes out in bits and pieces, too many items competing for funding etc.
The FG was going to be paying for that construction project from out of the Federal Budget. Now anyone that knows how the budget works knows the challenges: money comes out in bits and pieces, too many items competing for funding etc.
So the project didn’t move as fast as anticipated, since it was wholly Govt funded. This might explain why, in 2014/early 2015, FG signed a new Concession agreement worth 167 billion Naira with Motorways Asset Ltd (MAL). MAL would bring 117bn (recoup from toll, Ads etc); FG 50bn.
But litigation would not let the project be great. FG dared Bi-Courtney to go to court after the 2012 revocation. Some private citizens also went to court to seek nullification of the award to B-C. Also, B-C went to Court to challenge concession agreement signed with MAL in 2015.
So basically you had 2015, all of it was election, transition, litigation. Continued into 2016. B-C vs MAL.
Need to finish this thread. My God is not a God of abandoned projects.
