Buhari’s Commitment to Infrastructure is Monumental, Unprecedented – Fashola The Honourable Minister of Works and Housing Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN has described the commitment of the Buhari led Administration to Infrastructure development as monumental and unprecedented. The Minister made this description while responding to questions on Radio Nigeria phone-in programme “Have your say” this morning. Fashola hinged his commendation on the Infrastructural transformation work being implemented in the various sectors of the economy such as works and Housing, Transportation, Digital communication and economy, adding that if these were done in the past, the situation of the economy of the country would not have been as bad as it is now. While responding to the question on why many Federal roads were still in bad condition and why it was taking time to be completed, Fashola attributed it to procurement process, limited resources and the process of road construction. Citing an example of the Abuja - Lokoja road, he said the road which is about 300kilometre long was being expanded from 2 lanes to 4 lanes, which means that the entire work on that road is about 1200 kilometres. He added that a section of the road had been completed remaining only the section from Kotonkarfe to Lokoja, “some section have been completed, what is remaining is from Koton Karfe to Lokoja, which we are trying to finish”, he said. Fashola mentioned Lagos -Ibadan, Enugu –Port Harcout, Kano –Maiduguri, Ekpoma –lokoja roads among those that have been partially completed. The Minister said most of the roads were being reconstructed as some of them were impassable before now, citing Benin- Ore - Shagamu, Enugu –Port Harcourt roads. He urged Nigerians to be patient with the government considering the fact that these bad roads which were left undone by the previous administration when oil was selling at $140 per barrel are now being reconstructed and rehabilitated by the Buhari Administration at a time that oil price per barrel is less than 50 dollars. The Minister who disclosed the plan to finish 22 roads between 2020 and 2022 explained that the Federal Government was currently concentrating on Federal roads which are interconnecting states. “Our roads are those that connect state to state. We are focusing on them, it is when we have done these key roads that we will concentrate on others”, he said. On the housing sector, The Minister who was asked why some houses that had been completed by the Federal Government were yet to be allocated, said, “Some of the houses have been completed but there is still a lot to be done. In some cases we have not finished electrical connection to public power, we have not finished internal road work, there have been cases of theft and pilfering and we are doing replacement”. Fashola revealed that a digital framework was been worked out to ensure that application is done online to avoid undue influence from anyone. He also said that Federal Government was considering giving some allocations to State Governments for onward allocation to their indigenes since the States donated the land. He called on State Government and the Private sector to complement the effort of the Federal Government in the provision of houses to the people in overcoming the housing deficit. ...

FG Commences Partial Closure of Third Mainland Bridge for Repairs and Restoration ….Lists alternative routes and calls for patience and understating of road users The Federal Government has announced the partial closure of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, Nigeria, from Friday July 24, 2020 to January 24, 2021 for repairs. The Federal Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola announced this on Tuesday during a Press briefing to the nation on Government’s plans of assuaging the pains the closure would cause the over 132,702 light and vehicles that ply that route on a daily basis. Fashola during the Press briefing also announced alternatives routes: Costain, Ebute-Metta and Ijora as road users could use during the period of the repair. He also called for patience and understanding of road users adding that it was well-meaning Nigerians who drew the attention of the government to the bridge through comments and videos, pointing out that the maintenance was a direct response to those calls which was what governance is all about. Fashola explained:  “The Bridge is 11.8km; we are closing 3.5km so it is a partial and not a total closure.” He said that the Third Mainland Bridge was conceived in 1970 as a result of rapid modernisation of Lagos and that the construction work of the bridge spanned over three decades and was done during the oil boom, pointing out that the need for maintenance of the bridge was inherited by the current administration. According to Fashola, the Federal Government had so far intervened on thirty–seven bridges across the country, maintaining that Lagos has the highest number of bridges. He further said that the work on the Lagos Mainland Bridge is a collaborative effort between the Federal and Lagos State Governments. He commended the commitment of the present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari in the maintenance of the nation’s infrastructure nationwide. Acknowledging the pains the closure may cause, Fashola called road users to be patient as the construction works last.  “The best will happen if we all show understanding, restraint and patience, because we will have a better and safer bridge in a short while to come,”he said. In his presentation, the Director of Highways Bridges and Design, Engr. Emmanuel Adeoye  stated that the Third Mainland Bridge which is about 11.8 km long links Lagos Island to the Mainland and it is the busiest bridge in Nigeria with a daily average of traffic count of 132,702. Explaining further, he stated that the bridge provided the most direct route for commercial and industrial traffic leaving Lagos Island to other parts of the country and vice versa, pointing out that, it was necessary to always ensure regular maintenance to keep it in a serviceable state. “The periodic maintenance of the bridge was carried out in 2008, 2012, 2018 respectively and the present maintenance was a continuation of the process” he said On his part, the Director of Highways South-West, Engr. Adedamola Kuti said that the bridge would be partially closed for six months and that the partial closure would be in two phases to ensure operational efficiency. He said alternative routes have been provided to ease traffic flow during the maintenance work on the bridge. Accordingly, he explained that the two phases would be sub-divided into morning and afternoon traffic to minimize disruption of traffic during peak hours which are mainly from the Mainland to the Island in the morning and a return traffic in the evening from the Mainland to Island. He further disclosed that during the phase one, the Mainland bound carriage way would be partially closed to traffic from Adeniji-Adele up to the Ebute-Meta axis and that of phase two, the partial closure would be from the Ebute-Meta axis of the Island bound carriage way to the Adeniji-Adele axis. Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Boboye Oyeyemi, who also spoke during the briefing said that  “The partial closure has therefore placed the Corps in a position to provide strategic plan that will ameliorate the envisioned traffic situation the closure is certain to throw up,” He said the Corps has deployed massive personnel and logistics to guide and administer road traffic within the six months of the closure, adding that the Corps had commenced publicizing alternative routes to the teeming road users. ...

SUKUK: Fashola Commends Govt-Private Sector Partnership on Infrastructure Development. Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, has commended the partnership between the government and the private sector in the provision of SUKUK financing in roads project across the country. Fashola spoke during a presentation of N162, 557,000,000 Sovereign Sukuk Symbolic Cheque to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in Abuja,, Monday,  July 20,2020. According to Fashola, fourty-four (44) Federal Roads spread across the six geo-political zones are being financed under this SUKUK roads project. He listed the number of roads project being executed per geo-political zone as follows: North Central having eight, North East Eight, North West Seven, South West Six, South East Five and South South having Ten road each with the breakdown of the financial implication as follows: North Central N26.5b, North East N30.5bn, North West N26.5bn, South east N26bn, South South N26bn and South West N27.05bn. Speaking on the recent public debate on govt borrowing and the concerns being raised by Nigerians, Fashola explained that, with this Sukuk projects distribution, Nigerians will now see where and how the monies were being spent. Fashola also listed the many economic benefits of roads construction to the people, saying that a lot of jobs have been created for labourers,  artisans,  suppliers of building materials, sands suppliers, farmers and even food vendors who make their daily earnings from the construction sides. "President Muhammadu Buhari has been legitimately distributing wealth through investment in road infrastructure and the 100 million Nigerians he would take out of poverty in a decade would be achieved" he said. Earlier in her remarks, the Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed, said one of the key pillars of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), is the development of critical infrastructure projects with a view to removing the impediments to growth and development in the economy. She explained that, the President through the annual budgets had prioritized capital expenditure on the development of roads, rail, power and agriculture infrastructure projects. She stated that the amount N162, 557,000,000 now released signified the 100 per cent full deployment of the total amount raised by the Debt Management Office (DMO), dedicated to roads project The Director General Debt Management Office (DMO), Dr. Patience Monica said also that the released of this N162, 557,000,000 was the third and final release of the SUKUK secured financing for road project out of the total N462, 5577,000,000 raised by the DMO. Chairmen of relevant National Assembly Committees that attended the symbolic public presentation of the cheque include:  Committees on Works and that of Aids, local and foreign debts of both chambers (Senate and House of Representatives. In separate remarks, the Chairmen Senate Committee on Works, Senator Adamu Alieru and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Honourable Kabiru Bichi expressed satisfaction with the zeal to work demonstrated by the Minister of Works and Housing and the quality of work done by the contractors and promised that the National Assembly would collaborate fully with the executive to ensure that Nigerians enjoy good quality roads. Responding on behalf of the Contractors, the Managing Director of Reynolds Construction Company, (RCC) Nigeria Limited, Engr. Nabeel Esawi, appreciated the effort of the government in promoting roads financing through SUKUK. He promised government that, with this positive development of funding, contractors would take full advantage of the coming dry season to achieve more and recover the time they had lost as a result of COVID 19 lock down. "SUKUK is gradually changing the face of Nigerian road to the better.  Our Bulldozers and Machineries will speak for us " he said ...