The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said the sit-at-home order given by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) delayed the commissioning of the second Niger bridge.
The Minister said this on Wednesday on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily show.
He revealed that the bridge which has been temporarily opened for usage during the Christmas season would be tolled by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority to enable the project to be properly maintained for the benefit of Nigerians.
According to him, the option of tolling would be implemented to ensure the maintenance of the landmark project and to serve Nigerians for many years.
“The bridge will be tolled but that is the job of the NSIA because we must make sure the bridge is properly maintained.
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“So, this is where private sector capacity becomes useful. They may not be (able to) build capital to buy the asset but can mobilise the expertise and efficiency to operate it, of course not without due diligence being done. That is the same model on the Lekki toll gate,” he said.
The minister, however, assured that the project would be delivered in April or May 2023, if all goes according to plan.
“Truth be told, the target is April or May (2023) but the date keeps shifting because of sit-at-home directives. The current opening for motorists is for those going to the East and will last till the 1st of January. It is currently a one-way crossing. So, on the 2nd of January, we would reverse what we have done and allow people to use it from the 3rd for the East to West crossing and on the 15th we would shut it down so that we can finish the four-kilometre access road we are trying to build and the interchange.
“We are building in mash land so we have to dredge, accumulate sand, fill or reclaim land. You have to wait for it to settle and can’t start building the following day. We are using a technology called pre-fabricated vertical drills to accelerate,” Fashola said.
