The Federal Government has approved the Ogun State Government’s request to fix and toll the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
In a briefing that occurred after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held at the Aso Villa on Monday, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, shared this update.
The Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway has long been a subject of discontent among both motorists and travelers, with repeated calls for the government to rectify its worsening state.
After the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Monday, the minister provided clarification, stating that the project would be carried out under the guidelines of the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI). He also pointed out that both the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and the Federal Ministry of Finance would be actively involved in this undertaking.
“On permission to build federal roads, when such requests are made, we give approval within 24 hours but then there are conditions to be met – they must have to use the Federal Ministry of Works standard designs,” Umahi said.
“Under HDMI, when they (state governments) finish the roads, they have to tell it. There is a maximum number of years they have to toll it, recoup their money, and then the funds will have to start coming into the Federation Account and that is why we are very much interested in how much the road is going to cost and to adopt the standard procedure in road construction and design. This is very important.”
“An example of this system — HDMI – was the approval of Lagos-Otta-Abeokuta today (Monday) for Ogun State Government to build and toll.”