INFRASTRUCTURE BANK RESTATES COMMITMENT TO COMPLETION OF LAGOS-IBADAN EXPRESSWAY

The Infrastructure Bank (TIB) has reassured motorists using the Lagos-Ibadan express road of speedy completion of the N167 billion road project.

This was disclosed in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday.

The statement quoted the bank’s Managing Director, Mr. Kunle Oyinloye, as assuring motorists not to be despaired by the current lull in completing the road project.

He said that construction work, which had reached 30 percent completion stage, would resume as soon as the legal issues surrounding the project were resolved.

Oyinloye said that additional financial commitments had been secured from the project financiers from whom the initial N50 billion was raised for the project.

He said that all stakeholders on the project, including the Federal Ministry of Works, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and the contractors – Julius Berger PLC and RCC – were determined to ensure its completion by the July 2017 scheduled date.

Oyinloye commended the perception of Mr. Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, on the state of infrastructure in Nigeria and the concept of Public- Private Partnership in rescuing them from decay.

He said that the bank had a clear mission of transforming Nigeria’s infrastructure for enhanced national productivity by interfacing between the market for the public sector lending and private sector infrastructure project financing.

280KM “GREEN-FIELD DUAL CARRIAGE WAY” TO LINK ABUJA WITH IBADAN ON THE WAY

Oyinloye said that the bank was working on the design of a new 280-kilometre “green-field dual carriage way” that would link Abuja with Ibadan through Kwara State.

He said that the bank had secured the Federal Ministry of Work’s “no objection” to develop the planned “green-field” dual carriage way which, he said, would reduce travelling time from the current 10 hours to five hours.

Oyinloye said that the road project would generate thousands of job opportunities and unlock the economic potentials along the corridor.

It said that TIB was driving development projects in the nation’s six geo-political zones, citing the Yola Cattle International Market which it fully financed and the loan fully repaid by the Yola Local Government.

According to the statement, the bank has also provided the “catalyst loan” for the development of a 20,000 mass housing units for federal para-military forces and was actively involved in the one-billion US-Dollar renewable energy project in the 19 Northern states and the two-billion US-Dollar 37-kilometre Alagbado – Marina Lagos red-line rail project.

It noted with satisfaction the management of the Federal Government’s N25 billion mass transit revolving loan scheme by the bank.