FG constructed 9,290.34 km roads in eight years – Fashola

The Minister of Works and Housing Mr. Babatunde Fashola said that the Federal Government constructed 9,290.34 km of road since 2015.

He said an aggregate of over 13,000 km of roads and bridge infrastructure, as well as other housing activities, were part of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s infrastructural and human capital development.

Fashola added that the administration inherited N18 billion for road projects all over the country which they realised was not enough for one major road and it successfully changed it to over N200b.

Fashola who spoke in Abuja at a media presentation of his tour of duty from 2015-2023, also said that the administration completed the 2nd Niger bridge, which for decades was a political slogan for different administrations.

The Minister said the bridge was briefly opened during the festive period and the administration hopes to open it fully by the end of the month since it had awarded the contract for the completion of a temporary link road to the bridge on both States.

Fashola added Lagos Ibadan expressway, which the administration had hoped to finish before was being stalled by the continued heavy rains that could ruin its foundation.

“The 2nd Niger Bridge has been substantially completed but the two main access roads, the Asaba and Anambra ends, one of the contracts has been signed, the other has not. What the Ministry is doing before the end of the month is we awarded a two and half kilometres temporary access roads which would allow the bridge to be put to use. If you see the size of the temporary access road, it’s not in consonance with the size of the bridge because the bridge had three lanes and our temporary access is a single carriage way that would be used to access the bridge from the Anambra end. That is the position of the 2nd Niger Bridge and it would be put into use by the end of the month.

“On the Lagos Ibadan expressway, essentially what we have left is about a KM as you enter into Lagos and another two KMs as you leave Lagos. The situation we are in now is that the project is being stalled by heavy downpour.

”The reason why rain is a problem for road construction is the laterite which you see at the base as red sand gets impacted by the rain and if the laterite is impacted, it would affect the asphalt on the road causing the road to be destroyed faster than expected.” He said.