Dr. Obafemi Hamzat
The Lagos State Government on Monday claimed to have spent over N59bn on the construction and rehabilitation of federal roads within the state in the past few years.
The Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Obafemi Hamzat, who spoke at a press conference in Lagos, said it became necessary to put the records straight following a claim by the Minister of State for Works, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye, in a recent interview that apart from federal road projects, nothing had been done in the state.
Hamzat said, “A lot of people listened to the commentary and it is ideal to set the records straight. Some of the things that the minister of state said were that if you remove the federal roads from Lagos, including the Funsho Williams Avenue, Ikorodu Road and the Third Mainland Bridge, that there is nothing else in Lagos.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the kilometres of roads in Lagos are 5,500, out of which about 11.4 per cent or 591 to 592 kilometres belong to the Federal Government; 53 per cent to the state government and 35.6 per cent belong to the local governments. If you add 53 and 35.6 together, it is amazing to say the percentage is irrelevant and 11 per cent is more significant,” the commissioner explained
Hamzat said it was wrong for the minister to say that the state government was not working adding, “It is important to say that the federal roads and bridges are being worked on by the Lagos State Government. Officials of the Federal Ministry of Works visited and confirmed that they owed Lagos State N51bn even though what we submitted was N59bn because we have done federal roads.”
According to him, the state government is currently working on Ikorodu Road, which he said no longer belonged to the Federal Government.
He added that expansion work was also ongoing on the Eko Bridge, while plans had been concluded to rehabilitate the Apapa Bridge.
“On Eko Bridge, we are spending close to N500m to fix the expansion joints, which are 34 on both sides; the contract is being carried out by Julius Berger; these are facts that the honourable minister seems not to be aware of and Nigerians know the truth. We are evaluating the Apapa Bridge and work will commence there once we finish the Eko Bridge,” he added.
BY MAUREEN IHUA-MADUENYI
