Apapa-Oshodi Expressway Completion Date Shifted

Federal Government has shifted completion date for the ongoing repair of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway to December 2013.

The Federal Government said that the shift in the date was caused by the scarcity of funds.

The Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, told journalists in Abuja at this year’s commemoration of National Democracy Day and first anniversary of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration that the failure of past administrations to release adequate funds for the multi-billion naira road project necessitated the change in the completion date.

He said that the road project ought to have been completed and ready for commissioning at the first quarter according to the project timetable, but the inability to access funds for the contractor handling the project brought about the delay in the completion date.

Onolememen said the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway contract was divided into two sections and given to two different construction companies.

According to him, the first section from the Apapa quay to Liverpool roundabout was awarded in 2009 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, but was stalled by lack of funds.

He, however, said that his ministry had tabled the matter at both the Federal Executive Council and the Presidential Economic Management Team meetings, and stressed that the road project should be completed because of its strategic location to the nation’s maritime and petroleum sectors.

The minister added that the new completion date for the road project would now be December 2013.

“Based on our presentation, the Economic Management Team approved the suggested funding model for the accelerated completion of this particular road.

—Esther Komolafe