FG approves N7tn for Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, Carter bridge, others

The Federal Executive Council on Thursday approved contracts for road and bridge projects worth over N7tn, comprising 10 major projects spanning all six geopolitical zones.

This includes a N1.86tn extension of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway through Akwa Ibom State, a N548.98bn contract to demolish and fully rebuild the Carter Bridge in Lagos and a new N1.79tn section of the Sokoto-Badagry Expressway.

Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, who announced the approvals to State House correspondents after the FEC meeting, also disclosed a separate roll of major road projects ready for inauguration ahead of President Bola Tinubu’s third anniversary in office on May 29.

Thursday’s approvals are the single largest batch of road project approvals the Tinubu-led FEC has approved in one sitting.

According to Umahi, the first project was the Suleja-Minna and Kaduna Roads, which he describes as one of the administration’s most troubled inherited road projects.

The Suleja-Minna corridor, a 71-kilometre stretch previously awarded to Salini under a Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited tax credit scheme, under which, according to Umahi, nothing tangible was achieved in five years, had been rescoped and split into two lots.

“A section of it is 71km, dualised, and was awarded to Salini under NNPCL’s tax credit, and for five years, nothing tangible was achieved. And so the Ministry of Works decided to terminate the project and rescoped it into two lots,” Umahi said.

Lot 1, covering the first 71km, was awarded to CGC at N91bn, and Lot 2, covering the next 71 kilometres, was awarded to CCECC at N93bn, both to be executed on reinforced concrete pavement.

The council also approved the reconstruction of the Mando-Birnin Gwari Road in Kaduna State, a 122.8-kilometre project that Umahi described as one of the specific infrastructure commitments Tinubu made during his presidential campaign.

He explained, “The project is very important to the people of Kaduna State. It is 122.8km, and the contract sum is N178.12bn.

“The outer shoulders, which are 2.75 metres each, shall be done on reinforced concrete pavement, and because of the urgency, the carriage way will be done on asphalt. It’s a three-lane road at 11.3 metres’ width.”

Umahi said the council approved the complete demolition and reconstruction of the Carter Bridge.

He said the council’s decision followed independent investigations to determine the structural fate of one of Lagos’s oldest bridges.

Umahi noted that the independent investigations commissioned at multiple points, in 2013, 2019 and again under the current administration through Julius Berger, had all confirmed that the bridge’s underwater piles and pile caps had deteriorated at a “geometrical progression,” leaving no viable option but complete demolition and reconstruction.

He explained, “We convocated a stakeholders’ engagement, and all the technical experts all over the country, and even internationally, all agreed that we could not redeem Carter Bridge, and it has to be completely demolished and rebuilt.

“We’ve gone through rigorous procurement and design. The initial total length of that bridge was 1.525 kilometres, with three lanes, dualised. We have now increased the project to 1.93 kilometres because we increased a flyover ramp, so that the bottleneck that is usually there will no longer exist.

“The total contract sum approved is N548.98bn. CCCC won the contract after Julius Berger, CCECC, CBC, and China Harbour High Tech all bid. The new bridge will have a navigational waterway of 105 metres by two.”

Umahi also listed a separate N24.89bn for underwater elements of the Third Mainland Bridge, also by Julius Berger, among the projects ready for commissioning.

The council also approved the fifth section of the Sokoto-Badagry Expressway, a 360-kilometre dual carriageway at a total cost of N1.785 trillion, with 30 per cent to be paid by the Federal Government and 70 per cent through external financing.

The project will be tolled, Umahi emphasised, adding that the cost per kilometre of standard carriageway will be N3.2bn.

He argued that the figure compared favourably with the Abuja-Kano Expressway, which cost N3.3bn per kilometre and took eight years to deliver on asphalt.

“When people talk about cost and return on investment, the cost on th is project is N3.2bn per kilometre of standard carriageway. And when you look at Abuja-Kano, 240 kilometres, N800bn, done on asphalt over eight years, the cost is N3.3bn per kilometre.

“I should also mention that when we put up the external financing component of Sokoto-Badagry Section 1 on the international market, it was oversubscribed by $100m, and they said the project was undervalued but with the highest quality of performance. So we are very proud.”

Two sections of the Trans-Sahara Highway, the administration’s Third Legacy Project, also secured FEC approval.

Umahi said Section 1, running 123 kilometres from Bonny down to the Benue boundary, was approved at N454bn.

Section 2, continuing through Benue, Kogi and Nasarawa to the Ogo bridge, covering 173 kilometres, was approved at N683bn.

Umahi noted that second carriageways for both sections had also been initiated.

The Council also approved the extension of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway through Akwa Ibom State, which Umahi described as the most technically challenging section of the project, traversing deep swamp terrain.

He said, “That project is in a very terrible swamp. It involves removing pits of more than 12 metres, reclaiming with lumps in layers and sharp sand, and bringing it up to about five metres above the existing natural ground level.

“It is 165.6 kilometres dualised, to be done on reinforced concrete pavement with solar lighting and drainage, over 36 months. The contract sum is N1.86tn.”

FEC also approved N151bn for a Bodo-Bonny extension, an 8.9-kilometre dual carriageway with two giant flyovers connecting to the East-West Road, to be done through the LNG tax credit scheme.

The minister said, “We intend to build rest houses along the corridor with CCTV to monitor the entire section from the East-West Road down to Bonny Island.”

According to Umahi, three additional road projects were approved.

They include the dualisation of the Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Road in Oyo and Ogun states, which runs 56 kilometres by two, for N295bn to be constructed by Julius Berger; the Oshogbo-Akoda-Bunga Road in Osun State (59.2 kilometres, N101bn); and the Oshogbo-Iwo-Ibadan Road in Osun State (90.9 kilometres, N114bn).

The Yobe-to-Gombe section which runs 125 kilometres, a dual carriageway and also received approval at a contract sum of N1.25 trillion.

Umahi revealed that several projects were ready to be commissioned by the President ahead of his third anniversary.

In the North West, they include a 30-kilometre section of the Abuja-Kaduna Super Highway Lot 1, done on reinforced concrete pavement and an 81-kilometre West corridor valued at N252bn, and the Kaduna-Pambegua Road at 77 kilometres, N33bn.

In the South West, they include the first section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, valued at N1.23tn, a 24-kilometre section of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway constructed for N57bn with solar lighting and completed deck works on the Third Mainland Bridge worth N25bn, Carter Bridge deck worth N24.89bn and repairs on the Marina Bridge access ramps completed at N22bn.

In the South South, they include the 37.9-kilometre Bodo-Bonny Road completed by Julius Berger at N280bn.

Umahi also listed a 43-kilometre Port Harcourt road section valued at N83 billion among the completed works.

In the South East, completed projects include a 33-kilometre section of the Onitsha-Nnewi Road built for N66bn by SKCC, the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway section which is 56.1 kilometres by two, by Arab Contractors, and a 23km-span bridge in Enugu State valued at N24bn.

Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo, also announced that the Bauchi-Gombe Road which is 38 kilometres long and the Azare section of the Kano-Jigawa-Bauchi Road (37 kilometres, completed by Triacta) are fully done and ready for commissioning in the North East.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​