South West: We have 68 road contracts, 36 power projects, pilot housing projects ― Fashola

This is just as the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi said the Federal Government was working hard the ensure that the Lagos-Ibadan railway gets completed by December this year or January next year.

Speaking at a special Town Hall Meeting on Infrastructure in Ibadan, Oyo State, Fashola said “in the South West of Nigeria today including Lagos, we have 67 road contracts, yesterday we added another one at the Federal Executive Council Meeting, the Agbaran to Seme Border, that will connect Lagos and Ogun, then out of Nigeria, so that makes it 68.

“The breakdown is that Ekiti has 5 road contracts, Lagos has 19, Ogun has 9, Ondo has 9, Osun has 12 and Oyo has 14 of these contracts. Let me again say that a number of these contracts are repaired contracts which speaks to our commitment to maintenance, so out of the 5 in Ekiti, 2 are repairs, in Lagos, out of the 19, 8 are repairs, in Ogun, out if the 9, one is repaired, Ondo, out of the 9, 3 are repairs, in Osun, out of the 12, 3 are repairs, in Oyo, out of the 14, 2 are repairs”.

He said the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has 36 power projects in the South West states which he said will Improve power supply in the region.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which is the one that Government owns, has 36 projects in the South West, they are the repair of the Sub Station in Sagamu, the Ibadan north Substation, the Osogbo-Ede 132KV9, the Akure/Osogbo/Benin North line expansion, the new Akure Substation, the Ejigbo substation which we completed last week in Lagos, the Ayogbo/Ikeja substation expansion,” Fashola said.

On housing, the Minister said: “We are also executing housing projects on a pilot stage in all the South West states excluding Lagos, in those states, 61 contractors are employed by us as we speak, and they are also employing people who work under them.”

Furthermore, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing said “with that overview, let me say that if you don’t travel from states to states, you are not likely to see our impact on roads, because we are not responsible for inner city roads.

“Our role, what we voted President Buhari for is to manage the inter-state roads, the road that connects you to other states, so that you can do business with them”.

In comparison, Fashola said that the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing got just N25.2 billion in 2015, which he said was too meagre to execute the projects of the ministry.

“In 2015 when you elected this government, the budget that was left behind for 215 in my own ministry was N19 billion for Works for the whole of Nigeria, that was the year I was leaving office as the Governor of Lagos, the budget for Works in Lagos state was over N70 billion, but they left N19 billion for the whole of Nigeria for Works.

“The budget for Power was N5 billion for the whole of Nigeria, and the budget for Housing was N1.2 billion, so for the 3 ministries that I now superintendent, the total budget was N25.2 billion.

“By the time we came in, oil has gone down, but a Buhari said we must invest in infrastructure if we are going to rebuild Nigeria, our infrastructure is old, the budget for 2017 in my own three ministries was N394 billion for Works, the Budget for Power even though it has been privatized was now N69 billion, and the budget for Housing was N69.4 billion,” he added.

In his address, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said: “this Administration, realising that no nation develops without massive investment in infrastructure, has made such investment a priority, and it is paying off, as you will hear shortly from the Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing.

infrastructure over the years, realizing that infrastructure spurs economic growth by enhancing productivity and efficiency.

“The same template has also been adopted by many other countries, including China, Japan and South Korea. We are in no doubt that the solid foundation that we are laying in the area of infrastructure will be a catalyst to the much-needed economic development in our dear country.”

On his part, the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi said by January next year, the Lagos-Ibadan railway would have been completed, and luggage compartment and persons would be conveyed by coaches through the railway from Lagos to Ibadan.

“We are employing workers almost every week on site, we are pushing to complete the Ibadan- Lagos rail by December or January, when that happens, those of you who do business will have your luggage compartment or cargo compartment to take your cargos to Lagos or you have the Coaches to carry you to Lagos, we are working almost day and night. The total investment on Lagos to Ibadan railway project is $1.6 billion.

“We are building a transit park in Ibadan, which is a modern motor park, it is a place where drivers rest before commencing their journey, because we will soon start regulating them (Drivers) from driving a long distance trip without resting, so we are building a transit part in Ibadan, it will contain a hotel, mall.