Tinubu starts construction on Abuja-Lagos super highway

President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to start construction on the highly anticipated Lagos-Port Harcourt Coastal Road and the Abuja-Lagos Super Highway.

The National Assembly is presently debating the 2024 budget proposal, which includes this.

The two road projects received a total of N500 million each. The federal government also plans to devote significant attention to several ongoing and new road projects throughout the six geopolitical zones in the 2024 budget year.

One of these new projects is the N94.828 billion Multilateral/Bilateral Project Tied Loan for the development of Lafia Road and the dualization of the 9th Mile (Enugu) Otukpo-Makurdi (Keffi Phase II) Road Project.

Shagamu Road in Lagos State was designated for restoration with a budget of N1.3 billion. N143.5 million has been budgeted to rehabilitate the access road to Apapa, Tin Can Island Port, and NNPC Depot.

The budget document also included N300 million for the reconstruction of Lagos State’s Ikorodu/Shagamu route, which includes the access road to Mosimi.

N2.2 billion was allotted for the dualization of Ibadan/Ife-Ilesha Road in Oyo State. At the same time, N104 million was made aside for the expansion, construction, and restoration of Lagos-Shagamu-Ibadan dual carriageway section I in Lagos State.

N2.1 billion was allotted for Potiskum-Damaturu Road and Kano-Maiduguri Road Section IV.

The construction of the Ikot Ekpene Border-Aba-Owerri dualization received N1.01 billion, while the dualization of the Aba-Ikot Ekpene route in the Abia/Akwa Ibom States was allotted N1.410 billion.

N1.1 billion has been allocated for the reconstruction of the Odukpani Junction, the Akpet central section, and the Ikom-Ogoja Road in Cross River State.

N1.5 billion was allotted for the repair of the section I head of the Odukpani-Itu Bridge and the Odukpani-Itu-Ikot Ekpene Road in Cross River State.

N6 billion was allotted for the restoration of three sections of the Lokoja-Abuja route.

N500 million has been set out for phase II of the Suleja-Minna road dualization in Niger State.

The N2 billion allocated for the building and asphalt overlay of Kebbi State’s Suru-Sangelu-Afadama Road was mentioned as another recent road project.

One of the ongoing road projects that needs attention is Datum Nigeria’s N2.055 billion dualization of Bauchi State’s Alkaleri Fatuk Road.

The Ministry is planning to spend more than N1 billion on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Road renovation; the same amount was allocated for the dualization of Kano-Katsina Road Phase 1: Kano town at Dawanau Round About to Katsina.

N2.82 million is allotted for the expansion, repair, and building of the Lagos-Shagamu-Ibadan Dual Carriage Way Section II in Oyo State, as well as from the Lagos end.

Lagos State citizens may soon have reason to celebrate as N1.205 billion was also obtained for the Igamu Bridge’s rehabilitation, which has been neglected for some time.

An N3.031 billion provision was included in the budget for the installation of culverts and drains in flood-prone locations on federal roadways in the southeast zone.

Culverts and drains in flood-prone sections of the North West zone’s federal road network were given a similar allocation, equivalent to N3.031 billion.

For a total of N2.6 billion, the South-South zone also included provisions for culverts, drains, and sections on the federal road network in Rivers State that are prone to flooding.

The document, which can be found on the Budget Office’s official website as well, states that the ministry wants to spend N16.679 billion on personnel and N22,695 billion on overhead.

Additionally, the ministry wants to spend N145 million on gaming and sporting goods. N33 million was set aside for local transportation and travel.

The total amount allotted for general maintenance services was N18.2 billion. N18.1 billion would be spent on maintaining roads and bridges, with another N1.3 billion set aside for other uses.

N20 million was allotted for meals and refreshments, and N150.8 million was set aside for honoraria and seating allowance.

In addition, twenty million Naira was set aside for internet access fees, with another seven million Naira designated for sewage costs.

A budget of N15.3 million was set aside for the battle against corruption. The Ministry has set aside N40.5 million for the cost of plant and generator fuel, leaving N859.2 million for the provision of energy.

Numerous figures are also repeated using different codes under various sub-headings.

The entire sum of N2.4 billion was recorded under the sub-head Construction/Provision with code 2302, and another N2.4 billion was recorded under the sub-head Construction/Provision of Fixed Assets-General.

This was reiterated in the Rehabilitation / Repairs subhead as well. Amounts allocated: N48.711bn; code 2303: Rehabilitation/Repairs; identical amount recorded under code 230201, under subhead Rehabilitation/Repairs of Fixed Assets-General.

With code 220205, the training general was given N420 million, and the same amount was recorded under the subhead of local training with code 22020601.

N35.5 million was allotted for cleaning and fumigation services.

If approved, the budget will include N325.8 million for office supplies and computer consumables.

Out of the N657.227 billion that the Federal Ministry of Works has set aside for the 2024 fiscal year, the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and the Federal Ministry of Works are to jointly spend N617.853 billion on major projects. A total of N39.374 billion has been set aside for ongoing costs.