Rep. Sani Bala, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Establishments, says the N280 million allocated for Badagry Expressway reconstruction in 2020 budget “is mere joke that cannot complete the project in 10 years.”
Bala, who led the House Committee on an oversight visit to the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria, Topo, Badagry on Wednesday, lamented the five-hour trauma his delegation experienced on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
According to reports, Lagos State Government is responsible for the Iganmu-Okokomaiko section of the highway, while the Federal Emergency Road Management Agency is handling Okokomaiko-Agbara axis of the road.
Also, the Federal Government on October 24, 2018 awarded the reconstruction of the 46km Agbara-Seme section of Badagry Expressway to CGC Nigeria Limited at a sum of N63.2 billion.
The contractor had since abandoned the project.
Bala said: “The Chairman of Works Committee was here with us and he said what they put in this year’s budget for the road was N280 million only.
“The allocation is a mere joke, which cannot go anywhere.
“We have passed through the road and discovered that the expressway is not even from one state to another state, but an international road, which needs Federal Government attention.
“We will try and see other members of the committees on Appropriation and Works to see what they can do to actualise the Lagos-Badagry Expressway project.”
Bala (APC Tsanyawa/Kunchi Federal Constituency, Kano) assured the people of Badagry that the National Assembly would ensure sufficient amount of money was allocated for the project.
He said: “Even if we need to meet the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Raji Fashola, on the road reconstruction, it will be done.
“There is no way ASCON and other establishments will function well when the road that should take just 45 minutes now takes between four and five hours.
“Not to talk of the trauma and fatigue one passes through while plying the road.
“The stress is too much.
“So, I really sympathise with the people plying the road daily and I think the National Assembly needs to hear from some of us that have come here.
“I can assure you that we are going to actualise the construction of bad portions of the road.”