Following rehabilitation and expanding into six lanes, the Minister of Works, Engr Dave Umahi, has disclosed that the Lagos-Badagry Expressway will be ready for commissioning in May this year. According to Business Day, the Minister made this call while checking on the highway’s progress on Thursday.
This 46-kilometer stretch is part of a larger ECOWAS road network that connects to the Seme Border and continues to Abidjan. Umahi said President Bola Tinubu will officially open the completed road during celebrations marking his second year in office.
READ: Africa: Gov. Sanwo-Olu Urges FG to provide adequate funding for Lagos-Badagry Expressway
The construction company working on the project has already received N50 billion of the total N71 billion contract amount. Umahi expressed confidence in the contractor’s ability to finish the work on time. “The contractor has been paid about N50 billion; it means that what is left to complete the job is N21 billion,” Umahi explained. “We have scheduled a meeting with the contractor to discuss how to finalise the remaining four to five kilometres before April 20.”
The minister also mentioned that the next section of the road, which extends to Seme Border, will be built using concrete pavement. He added that there are plans to ask border states to complete their portions of the ECOWAS highway that eventually reaches Abidjan. Umahi praised President Tinubu’s commitment to continuing about 270 construction projects that were started before his administration. These projects are scheduled to be officially opened in May. The work on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway initially began in October 2018.
